Recently, a patient’s widow called to cancel a routine assessment because the patient suddenly died. There had been no freak heart attack and it had not been one of those undiagnosed cancers.  He just “died, suddenly, in his sleep, I guess,” she said. That got me thinking.

The first class of drugs I think about, when I think of sudden death, are the stimulants.  I remember when someone decided that everyone who was going to get stimulants needed to have a “cardiocentric” examination first.  Doctors asked a lot of questions about chest pain, and administered an electrocardiogram.  These precautions were especially interesting because they were – of course – used before prescribing Ritalin. Many child psychiatrists had laughed at me when I cautioned usage of this job, claiming it was the safest medication ever invented. Once – at the peak of my massive weight — an endocrinologist offered me a prescription of Meridia, to get rid of my excess weight.  He did not think the fact that there had been a “few” reports of sudden death should get in the way of my using it. Read more on Sudden Death in Psych Patients — From Medicine…