Dr. Daniel E. Buffington testimony

Clinical Pharmacologist and Toxicologist

...the prescribing for Mr Reynolds was 30 mg for a month and during that time he was actually having some of the very serious adverse side effects - changes in mood, behavior, aggression, sleeping, including a suicide attempt  ...that we know are severe cymbalta-like adverse reactions ...these things are completely consistent with what this drug is known to do. ...he unfortunately never had appropriate drug monitoring, never had the opportunity to have the drug removed. ...He did attempt to commit suicide using pain medications, was Baker-Acted and, unfortunately they actually doubled the dose,  and again, within 30 days, ...he had another event and that's what transpired on 11-26 with the interaction with the officers.

So based on that and the information that I reviewed, it's my opinion that around the time of the incident on 11-26 of 2011, that Mr Reynolds was experiencing the negative cognitive symptoms and adverse side effects both that are associated with the depression, the depth of depression, and the type of medication that was utilized, so both psychiatric and behavioral changes that are associated with duloxetine. That's the generic for cymbalta.

When you look antidepressants or any medication that's used for psychiatry they... all have a natural effect on mood, judgment, sleep patterns... if it's not the right medication for that patient, the individual may actually have worse symptoms or suicidal ideations or actions. If you look at the adverse side effects, they're dramatic. They go from everything from visual disturbances, upset stomach, heart palpitations, but can get into the attention disorders, confusional states, sleep disorders, irritability, mood swings, aggression, anger, as I said before, even suicidal ideations. Those would be indications to remove the drug, not to double down.

...What its impacting negatively, or what we refer to as cognitive functions, so attention, information processing, sensory perceptions, inhibition control, memory, cognitive flexibility, the ability to think through in a situation.

*Disclaimer: I took the liberty to heavily redact and rearrange the sentences of Dr. Buffington's testimony for ease of reading; to include the pertinent parts without forcing the readers to endure all 25 pages of testimony. I did not change any words, or deviate from the ideas or meaning he was conveying. I encourage all to read his entire testimony as it is very informative. You can download the full testimony as a PDF file HERE.