by Amber Hilton

Created on: March 01, 2011   Last Updated: March 05, 2011

It's common knowledge that prescription medications often have negative side effects, but did you know that the same drugs your doctor prescribes to help you quit smoking or treat your depression or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have the potential to make you violent? Recently, a study was conducted using cases from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) QuarterWatch database, which includes instances of reported adverse drug events that date back to 1968. The original reports were collected from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS). In 2010, an article about the study, titled "Prescription Drugs Associated with Reports of Violence," was published in PLoS ONE by Thomas J. Moore, Joseph Glenmullen and Curt D. Furberg.

Prior to this study, little research had been done on violence to others as a side effect of prescription medications. Clinical trials have examined the risk of suicidal behaviors associated with antidepressants, but violence towards others is a new frontier of sorts in the study of adverse drug events. Although it is an atypical side effect, violence towards others is without a doubt a very serious one, considering that it puts a third-party at risk for injury or even death. Reports of violence associated with prescription drugs ranged from thoughts of violence, to actual physical assault, and even to homicide.

In total, a shocking 31 drugs were identified as disproportionately causing 1,527 violent events, based on data reported between 2004 and most of 2009. Although the large number of drugs identified here is disturbing, most of them are prescribed to treat just a handful of conditions and include certain anticonvulsants, antidepressants, sedatives/hypnotics, smoking cessation aids and several medications used to treat ADHD. Of the drugs in widespread clinical use that data was available to evaluate, nearly 85 percent are considered highly unlikely to cause violence. Outlined below are the top 10 violence-inducing prescription drugs, as identified by this study.

1. Varenicline (Brand name Chantix): This drug is prescribed to aid in smoking cessation and had the highest proportion of violence cases in the study, with 408 in total. Two additional smoking cessation aids also made the list, including Bupropion (brand names Aplenzin, Budeprion, Buproban, Wellbutrin and Zyban) and nicotine replacement products, although they didn't fall within the top 10. Bupropion is also used

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