Psychiatric Polypharmacy

Psychiatric polypharmacy is a growing concern in the United States. Between 2015 and 2020, for example, there was a 9.5% increase in the number of young people (17 years of age and under) in Maryland enrolled in Medicaid using three or more psychiatric drugs. Researchers warned that the rates of polypharmacy are increasing as the rates rise in the number of children being diagnosed with conditions like ADHD, anxiety and depression without knowing how the simultaneous use of psychiatric drugs can affect health and brain development.

Lives being ruined by psychiatric polypharmacy is not restricted to young people, and it can start with just one side effect of the first pill prescribed, which is often an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) antidepressants.

The Lindsay Clancy Case

A catastrophic example of psychiatric polypharmacy that the media has covered extensively is the 2023 Lindsay Clancy family tragedy in Massachusetts. Lindsay was prescribed 11 different medications by six healthcare professionals (three psychiatrists, two nurse practitioners, doctor), including five antidepressants and three benzodiazepines, in the four months leading up to her taking the lives of her three children Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan. Three years later, Lindsay filed this malpractice lawsuit against her medical providers. The first pill that Lindsay was prescribed was the SSRI Zoloft for anxiety about returning to work as a labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital after her maternity leave ended in early 2023.

In this 19-minute video, Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring, a psychiatrist and former FDA medical officer who co-founded TaperClinic, shares his expert opinion on Lindsay’s medical treatment and involuntary intoxication.