news bites

A scientific study of 12 men and 12 women who fell in love (we never knew that science was involved), found that the men had lower than normal levels—and the women had higher levels—of testosterone. (Source: WHIP)
COMMENTARY: See, women really do love girlie men.

A recent report from Express Scripts, which runs pharmacy programs for managed care companies, says that antidepressant use among 2 million patients under age 18 went from 1.6% in 1998 to 2.4% in 2002—and that the rate of increase in antidepressants was highest among kids under five. That’s f-i-v-e. (Source: WHIP)
COMMENTARY: My 5 year old is smarter than your 5 year old. Oh yeah? Well my 5 year old can beat up your 5 year old.

Following the trail …
Christopher Pittman said he remembered everything about that night … when he killed his grandparents: the blood, the shotgun blasts, the voices urging him on, even the smoke detectors that screamed as he drove away from their rural South Carolina home after setting it on fire.

Now, Christopher … faces charges of first-degree murder. The decision by a local prosecutor to try him as an adult could send him to prison for life. While prosecutors portray him as a troubled killer, his defenders say the killings occurred for a reason beyond the boy's control—a reaction to the antidepressant Zoloft, a drug he had started taking for depression not long before the slayings.

In recent months … the federal Food and Drug Administration has been examining data from clinical trials indicating that some depressed children and adolescents taking antidepressants think more about suicide and attempt it more often than patients given placebos. The findings varied between drugs. …

Pfizer, the maker of Zoloft, has helped the county solicitor who is prosecuting Christopher Pittman. Plaintiffs' lawyers from Houston and Los Angeles, who between them have brought numerous civil lawsuits against Pfizer and other antidepressant makers, have signed onto the defense team. (Source: The New York Times)
COMMENTARY: My 12 year old is smarter than your 12 year old. Oh yeah? Well my 12 year old is on enough antidepressants to kill you 12 year old.

Pulp fiction: What does it mean when the orange juice carton says “Some Pulp.” How much is that, exactly? The box doesn’t say. (Source: WHIP)
COMMENTARY: And how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know.