maleficent

Medicine blamed in killing of doctor
By Angela Rozas | Tribune staff reporter
August 17, 2007

A relative of the man implicated in the 2006 slaying of a Loop dermatologist issued a statement Thursday blaming in part an acne drug prescribed to him for his alleged actions.

Hans Peterson, 29, turned himself in to French authorities on the island of St. Martin last week and allegedly confessed to killing Dr. David Cornbleet in October. Authorities are trying to extradite him to face murder charges in Illinois.

An e-mail sent by a Peterson relative who did not identify himself said that the family has received a lot of hate mail and decided to issue a statement to "stop the harassment."

"The Peterson family is writing to educate those righteous Chicagoans who are sending the hate mail and phone calls and to tell our perspective to the decent Chicagoans on who are the villains in this tragedy as there are many fingers to point," the e-mail began. "It is that way in many tragedies."

The Cornbleet family declined to comment on the wide-ranging accusations made in the e-mail but urged whoever wrote the e-mail to advise Peterson to agree to be extradited to the United States to face trial.

The e-mail is signed by an anonymous member of the Peterson family, but a person who answered the telephone at the Peterson family home in Oregon confirmed that the e-mail was a statement from the family.

The e-mail contended that Peterson was in a "depressive psychosis" in the summer of 2002 when he was prescribed the drug Accutane after meeting with Cornbleet. In another e-mail, the family member said that Peterson took the drug one or two times, but stopped taking it after feeling adverse effects.

"The Peterson family has suffered for over 5 years, and we have lost a family member who was a sweet and gentle soul before this tragedy," the e-mail said. "Our hearts do go out to the Cornbleets -- the other victims in this tragedy."

The family statement blamed the Food and Drug Administration and the manufacturer of the drug, Roche Pharmaceuticals, for allowing the drug to remain on the market and physicians for prescribing it.

"So...who are the [villains] in this tragedy?," the e-mail said. "Roche Pharmaceuticals for continuing to have this drug on the market ...The FDA for allowing this drug to remain on the market ...Any physician that would prescribe this drug without heeding the warnings."

Warnings on Accutane's prescriptions caution that it possibly can cause depression or psychosis and acknowledges reports of people on the drug exhibiting aggressive behavior. But the company maintains there is no reliable scientific evidence that the drug causes those symptoms, according to its Web site.

The family member also contended in the e-mails that Peterson told his family that Cornbleet spent only a few minutes with him before prescribing the drug and did not ask him about his medical history. Peterson allegedly told French authorities the drug caused him to be impotent.

"In the horrible summer of 2002 when Hans went into depressive psychosis, he related to us that Dr. Cornbleet spent only a few minutes with him before handing him a prescription for Accutane," the e-mail said. "He did not ask any questions about psychiatric problems and did not tell Hans that he was prescribing a dangerous drug."

Relatives of Cornbleet, who was widely described as a caring and attentive doctor who worked long hours to meet his patients' needs, took strong issue with the contentions of the Peterson family. "It's not indicative of how my father ran his practice, and if Hans would like to discuss this in a civil manner, we would welcome it in an American court," said Jon Cornbleet, the victim's son.

The younger Cornbleet and his family this week are trying to garner public support for extraditing Peterson. That has been complicated because Peterson, a U.S. citizen whose mother is French, obtained French citizenship while in St. Martin. The French do not extradite citizens who may face capital cases.

An affidavit filed in federal court to obtain an arrest warrant for Peterson was unsealed Thursday and provided more detail about how authorities tracked Peterson to St. Martin.

According to the document, Peterson boarded an Executive Air flight in Puerto Rico for the French West Indies Dec. 29. In May, Peterson's former roommate told the FBI that he had kept in telephone contact with the suspect and that Peterson had asked him to have his mail forwarded to the island.

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Since I moved to Chicago, screen shots of the suspect have been in every store I've gone into with a reward being offered by the family... The murder of this dermotogist was all over the news.

The family of the suspect's reaction just irks me to no end... The drug maybe was responsible for him going into a psychotic state, but did the same drug make him run away from his responsibility... I strongly doubt drugs make a person board a plane for St Martaan and tell your roommate to forward your mail there...

When a person is prescribed a drug, doesn't the pharmacist give them a pamphlet explaining the side effects, yeah a lot of it is mumbo jumbo but the side effects are usually in plain english... Isn't it up to a person to ask about what they are putting into their body? The suspect isn't coming across as an illiterate person...

Accutane is some potent stuff, and women who are put on it, it's pretty much mandatory to be on a secondary method of birth control because the risk of birth defects are so strong...

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ngdawg

When I was taking my daughter for acne treatments, their last resort was to suggest Accutane. The PA then handed me a book-not a pamphlet-a book, about the side effects. We refused the idea and dropped the treatments.
This would appear to be another case of 'it's not MY fault'. If that was a disease, "notmyfaultosis' would right up there with AIDS and heart attacks. Shoot 37 students and teachers-the bullies made me do it. Kill a doctor, the drug is at fault.
Unless he was talking to salt shakers and howling at the moon, he and his family are basically full of shit....
And then you have the drug makers-not their fault either, even though studies point to the possibility of psychosis in borderline patients. I know! Let's blame the doctor he killed-he didn't ask the right questions!

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Reese

It's acne medication.. I'd expect to read "may cause itching, and don't apply to open wounds" on the side on the bottle.. not "May cause depressive Psychosis..." This thread is the only information I have about the case, but it sounds like the doctor gave him a dangerous drug without even warning him.

I agree with you, Running definitely wasn't the right thing, but who knows maybe he was still under the effects when he made that decision. It can be hard to step up and face the consequences. It definitely sucks for both familes.

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albania

He should take responsibility for taking another man's life, the onus is on us to reasonably determine what we should put in our body. A doctor can only prescribe medication he can't force you to take it. Now there are cases when a doctor should be held liable for prescribing the wrong medication but that doesn’t justify murder. I don't understand is the family alleging that the drug made him psychotic? It seems to me like the article states that he was already depressed before he took the drug. All I read is that he told police that the drug made him impotent.

analog

The drug, isotretinoin, is sold as Accutane, Amnesteem, Claravis and Sotret.

When both men and women are put on it, they are entered into a program called iPledge, which is an electronic, online tracking system that identifies exactly when the prescription was written, and must be filled in a pharmacy within __ hours according to the individual state law. I believe here in florida, you have 1 week to get it filled. That's how strongly they need to track it. In women, a pregnancy while on this drug will cause you horrible, terrible birth defects... think "flipper baby", to use the crude colloquialism.

For both men and women, though especially in men, there is a noted increase in violent impulses or thoughts for some people while taking the medicine.

Yeah... but... there are really only two reactions to have if you come down from a drug-induced rage and realize you've killed someone... cry yourself into the courthouse or run with your guilt. I'd like to say I'd go turn myself in... but there's really no way of any of us knowing until the blood is on our hands. Shitty thing to do, yes, but... he killed a guy and then panicked when he realized what he'd done.

It's mandated by US/FDA law that all prescriptions sold must be accompanied with a minimum of information, such as side effects, potential adverse reactions, and (when applicable) warnings on what other drugs may not be taken while on a particular drug. For example, you may not use nitroglycerin if you've taken a viagra, levitra, or cialis pill in the preceding 24 hours, or it could cause a mild case of deadness. This warning is normally found in the information sheet accompanying a prescription for nitroglycerin products.

Not only that, but women must undergo a pregnancy test at the doctor's office prior to even getting the prescription written, and then enter into an agreement not to get pregnant either intentionally or through inaction while on the medicine.

/infoporn

Having said all that, it is every individual's responsibility to be educated on the drugs/etc that they take. The doctor is technically required to give some certain information, but good luck holding them to that- it is up to you to know what you're taking, and why, and what effects it may have on you.

Oh, and do yourself and your family a favor... write out a list of all the medications you're currently on, and keep it updated and in your wallet/purse.

...Forbid that something happens to a family member, it is an invaluable tool, especially in medical issues, to the paramedics and your ongoing emergency healthcare providers at the hospital. Without knowing what drugs you're on, we lose precious time or have to operate blind as to what might be going on internally.

/PSA

stevie667

It is entirely possible the drug induced a state of mind where he acted in this fashion. Many drugs have the 'extremely rare, occurs in 1/100,000 cases' at the very end of the side effects. One anti-psychotic i looked at listed pyschosis and sucidal tendancies as the extremely rare side effect. Random extreme stuff does happen...

The matter of fact is deciding if the drug had an effect on his state of mind, if that effect was enough to dissolve his personal responsibility for his actions, or just to reduce the charge.

Then again it could all be bullshit and he killed the doctor because he couldn't get his lieutenant to stand to attention.

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Reese

It said he stopped taking it after a few doses. He saw that it was doing something to him and he stopped. It not like he kept taking the drug for 6 months. I've seen first hand how prescription drugs can totally fuck up your reality. It's very scary to see someone going through that. Like I said before, I don't know all the facts. I just like to give someone the benefit of the doubt. Let someone with more of the facts be the judge. I hope he gets what he deserves, whether is be prison of freedom.

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pinal

It's very much unfortunate. I pray it doesn't occur again.

noodle

Necrothread! Lol. I'm in the middle of my fifth month on this drug, just FYI, and I haven't killed anyone, my cholesterol is not astronomical, and I didn't develop any horrible digestive issues. As with any medicine, with super-highly concentrated doses of Vitamin A, you have to know and take care of your body the whole time. And take incredibly redundant quizzes about birth control, side effects, and deformed babies. they gotcha covered. Your doc also has to see you every month... and review side effects. Depression is a serious side effect, but personally I think having serious acne causes more depression and it does get worse in the beginning.

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Strange Famous

As I understand no EU nation can extradite someone to America to face a capital crime.

The death penalty is illegal in EU law.

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The_Jazz

It would depend on the state. There are several (Illinois for instance) that do not have the death penalty.

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Jinn

Indeed this is a super necro thread, makes me miss mal. Odd timing, though, since I'm in the third month of Roaccutane myself. I tend to agree with noodle (and the peer-reviewed studies) that indicated the depression was largely a factor of the age group of patients (teens) and persistent issues of self-worth and beauty as a result of the already present acne. They've done a lot of research on it, even since this OP, and the most common issues are simply dry eyes (brutal for me, right now) and chapped lips. The Chron's connection is largely at the behest of ambulance-chasing lawyers, not any demonstrable link.

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noodle

My seriously dry skin and a little bit of eczema, cracked lips, and dry eyes are about it. I'm doing Claravis. I have three active weeks left and I'm so happy. Honestly, my confidence and depression have significantly improved. I exist on Vanicream products and Hemp oil lip stuff and it takes care of everything. My cholesterol has gone up less than 100 pts, which cracks me up because the nurses I work with were terrified for me and my "possible liver damage". If I kill anyone, you all can rest assured it's not the Clavaris... it's the stupidity of humanity

I miss Mal, too.

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Hektore

No kidding, I was so psyched thinking she was back - and then I catch the date on the OP...

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The_Jazz

Yeah, same here. That's one of the bad thing about necroed threads, isn't it.

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Jinn

I'm up about 150, and I still drink a bit, but the LFTs come out fine. I'm also doing Claravis, I think it's the one most do since Roaccutane is no longer under patent protection. My biggest gripe is that my dermatologist can't schedule me 30 days out, it's usually 35 to 40.. so I keep having these big gaps where I'm off it for a bit.. over all, though.. excellent. My skin really doesn't bother me, or my lips, but my eyes are brutal. Especially because I sit in front of a computer for 8-12 hours a day... 7 days a week..

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