Woman Who Killed Sons, Self Gave Warning Of Intent - Paxil

[Guest guest]

Two points with this article, this woman was screened with a standardized

screening tool for mental illness and she was also on antidepressants. Check

out the previous articles, that are on the webpage, where the doctor

justifies the screening.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/4478421/detail.html

Woman Who Killed Sons, Self Gave Warning Of Intent

Told Doctor She Planned To Kill Self, Sons

POSTED: 4:04 pm MDT May 11, 2005

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Hospital records show a woman who killed her two

young sons and then committed suicide had told a doctor one day earlier of

her intentions, but she was sent home after assuring the doctor she didn't

mean it.

Memorial Hospital could have held Rifkin for 72 hours if she was

deemed an imminent threat to hurt herself or others. A hospital spokesman

did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday.

Rifkin's husband, Don, obtained her records from the hospital and released

them to The Gazette of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

Police said Rifkin, 41, shot her two sons, , 13, and ,

12, and then shot herself on April 24. Don Rifkin was working in South

Carolina at the time.

The names of the doctor and others who spoke to Rifkin at the hospital

on April 23 were blacked out in the copy of the records given to her

husband.

The records show Rifkin told the doctor she had been taking the

antidepressants Paxil and Trazodone and a diet aid known as Metformin.

Although Rifkin admitted she had made threatening statements, she told the

doctor she would never harm her children or herself, according to the

records.

" She said she made the comment out of haste, and she would not actually want

to kill herself, " the doctor's report says.

The doctor recommended that Rifkin be examined by a social worker and then

sent home. The doctor told Rifkin to go home and rest, follow up with her

therapist and " return here if you feel unsafe. "

[Guest guest]

Two points with this article, this woman was screened with a standardized

screening tool for mental illness and she was also on antidepressants. Check

out the previous articles, that are on the webpage, where the doctor

justifies the screening.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/4478421/detail.html

Woman Who Killed Sons, Self Gave Warning Of Intent

Told Doctor She Planned To Kill Self, Sons

POSTED: 4:04 pm MDT May 11, 2005

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Hospital records show a woman who killed her two

young sons and then committed suicide had told a doctor one day earlier of

her intentions, but she was sent home after assuring the doctor she didn't

mean it.

Memorial Hospital could have held Rifkin for 72 hours if she was

deemed an imminent threat to hurt herself or others. A hospital spokesman

did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday.

Rifkin's husband, Don, obtained her records from the hospital and released

them to The Gazette of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

Police said Rifkin, 41, shot her two sons, , 13, and ,

12, and then shot herself on April 24. Don Rifkin was working in South

Carolina at the time.

The names of the doctor and others who spoke to Rifkin at the hospital

on April 23 were blacked out in the copy of the records given to her

husband.

The records show Rifkin told the doctor she had been taking the

antidepressants Paxil and Trazodone and a diet aid known as Metformin.

Although Rifkin admitted she had made threatening statements, she told the

doctor she would never harm her children or herself, according to the

records.

" She said she made the comment out of haste, and she would not actually want

to kill herself, " the doctor's report says.

The doctor recommended that Rifkin be examined by a social worker and then

sent home. The doctor told Rifkin to go home and rest, follow up with her

therapist and " return here if you feel unsafe. "