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16 Widener L.J. 111 (2006-2007)
Violent Behavior Associated with Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors and Liability of Prescribers of Donepezil

handle is hein.journals/wjpl16 and id is 119 raw text is: VIOLENT BEHAVIOR ASSOCIATED WITH ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE INHIBITORS AND LIABILITY OF PRESCRIBERS OF DONEPEZIL Janet Brewer* I. BACKGROUND There are few prospects more aversive than the notion of one day developing Alzheimer's disease. Most realize that the disease is characterized by progressive, irreversible memory loss coupled with deteriorating intellectual, speech, and orienting functions.' The course of the disease may take years and progresses to a point of complete loss of intellectual functions.2 Current medical theories regarding the etiology, cognitive symptoms, and disease course of Alzheimer's disease cite a deficiency of cholinergic transmission in the brain.3 The recently discovered drug Donepezil Hydrochloride (trade name Aricept) is said to exert a therapeutic effect by enhancing acetylcholinergic activity.4 Donepezil was thought to hold new promise for Alzheimer's patients, but in November 1995 the American Journal of Psychiatry printed a warning issued by Drs. W. P. Bouman and G. Pinner of Nottingham, England.5 Under the heading Violent Behavior Associated with Donepezil, Drs. Bouman and Pinner described a seventy-six-year-old man suffering from Alzheimer's whose medical history was otherwise completely unremarkable.6 He was . J.D., Psy.D.; Lecturer in Law, Centre for Social Ethics and Policy, School of Law, Department of Humanities, University of Manchester, U.K. See TABER'S CYCLOPEDIC MEDICAL DICTIONARY 78-79 (Donald Venes & Clayton L. Thomas eds., 19th ed. 2001). 2id. 3 RxList Monographs, Donepezil Hydrochloride: Clinical Pharmacology, http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/donepezil-cp.htm (last visited Oct. 22, 2006). 41d. 5 W.P. Bouman & G. Pinner, Letter to the Editor, Violent Behavior Associated with Donepezil, 155 AM. J. PSYCHIATRY 1626 (1998). 6id.

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