MA - Lindsay Clancy, Strangled 3 Children in Murder/Suicide Attempt, Duxbury, Jan 2023

[Knox]

Reddington said his client is under constant guard in the hospital and has also not been allowed contact with her parents.

"She has had literally no contact with anyone other than her prior attorney and her medical staff," Reddington said.

He also disputed a previous statement from the Duxbury Police Chief, which said Lindsay Clancy was recovering physically. Reddington called this a "blatant untruth" and said she is in a hospital bed, unable to move.

"She can move," an attorney for the DA's office argued. "She is not paralyzed. She can move her legs. She can move her arms. She has been writing and being able to verbally communicate."

Citing safety concerns and limited security in the hospital setting, the prosecutor asked that if Lindsay Clancy were allowed access to the psychologist, the doctor be required to undergo a search prior to entering the room and that someone else be present during the evaluation.

The judge overseeing Friday's hearing granted Reddington's motion for a psychological evaluation and determined that sheriff's deputies already guarding Lindsay Clancy will be allowed to watch, but not hear, the evaluation. The parties also agreed that Lindsay Clancy will be allowed to speak to her parents.

Attorney: Lindsay Clancy, mom accused of killing her kids, was 'overmedicated'

An attorney representing Lindsay Clancy, the mother accused in connection with the deaths of her three children, went to court Friday afternoon to request an emergency psychological evaluation for her.

www.wcvb.com

 

[nightowl1975]

Isn't Lindsay's Mom a nurse also? Pretty sure I saw that somewhere.

There is no way one nurse would be able to adequately supervise Lindsay 24/7, basically on suicide watch.

 

[Knox]

There is no way one nurse would be able to adequately supervise Lindsay 24/7, basically on suicide watch.

I didn't say that?

 

[nightowl1975]

I didn't say that?

Ah, sorry for misinterpreting your post. The discussion I had in mind was about how the attorney asked for her to be released to her parents’ home pending trial, so your comment seemed to me to indicate perhaps that would be fine bc her mother is a nurse. Which isn’t what you said at all.

 

[forthelost]

Judge permits forensic psychologist to examine Lindsay Clancy as she awaits arraignment in deadly attack on her children - The Boston Globe

When she allegedly strangled her three children inside their Duxbury home last week, Lindsay Clancy was in the throes of homicidal and suicidal thoughts brought on by overmedication of drugs prescribed for mood disorders, anxiety, and psychosis, her new defense lawyer, Kevin J. Reddington, said.

www.bostonglobe.com

According to the lawyer, between last October and January, Lindsay Clancy was prescribed a total of 12 different medications.
They were: zolpidem which is sold under the brand name Ambien, clonazepam, which is sold under the brand name of Klonopin, diazepam which is sold under the brand name Valium, fluoxetine which is sold under the brand name Prozac, lamotrigine, which is sold under the brand name Lamictil, lorazepam, which is sold under the brand name Ativan, mirtazapine, which is sold under the brand name Remeron, quetiapine fumarate, which is sold under the brand name Seroquel, and trazodone, which is is known by the generic name.

Reddington said the criminal process will begin next Tuesday at 2 p.m. when Lindsay Clancy appears via Zoom while he, the prosecutor and judge meet in Plymouth District Court for her delayed arraignment.

Ambien, Klonopin, Valium, and Ativan all at once? How could she stay awake? That's a ton of sedatives.

 

[lowes123]

According to the lawyer, between last October and January, Lindsay Clancy was prescribed a total of 12 different medications.
They were: zolpidem which is sold under the brand name Ambien, clonazepam, which is sold under the brand name of Klonopin, diazepam which is sold under the brand name Valium, fluoxetine which is sold under the brand name Prozac, lamotrigine, which is sold under the brand name Lamictil, lorazepam, which is sold under the brand name Ativan, mirtazapine, which is sold under the brand name Remeron, quetiapine fumarate, which is sold under the brand name Seroquel, and trazodone, which is is known by the generic name.

Reddington said the criminal process will begin next Tuesday at 2 p.m. when Lindsay Clancy appears via Zoom while he, the prosecutor and judge meet in Plymouth District Court for her delayed arraignment.
Click to expand...

Ambien, Klonopin, Valium, and Ativan all at once? How could she stay awake? That's a ton of sedatives
Ambien should be illegal. I personally know of people who took this and acted in ways they would not have acted if they didn’t take it. Bad stuff.

 

[Observant-ADHD-ENFP-BSc]

This is just unbelievably sad for everyone involved.
If it is true and she was prescribed ALL of the medications suggested, someone needs to be held accountable for that mind-boggling decision!
JMO

 

[spicyrock]

About the meds, serious psychiatric illness often requires multiple medications to treat. The drugs are tried and discarded and tried again. Different combos are tried. Sometimes you may have (using the benzos just as an example) klonopin for daily use, Ativan for panic attacks and Valium at night. I personally have a low opinion of ambien, for another ex, but sleeplessness is sometimes very hard to treat, and days without sleep is bad too.

I know it may seem mind boggling, but her prescription list is not that strange to me. It looks like she was trying everything, like her psych was aggressively treating her illness- did they make the right calls? I don’t know. Did her medication profile contribute to her actions? I don’t know. But clearly she needed meds and they were trying to get her some. A severe crisis is not the time when psychs say ok, let’s take as little medications as possible.

Jmo ime

 

[spicyrock]

I’m really just kind of emotionally catching up to thinking about what is actually going on with this case. It’s just upsetting all around. But, I keep coming back to her being a labor and delivery nurse. With really good health benefits. With a solid partner who could also take time off to be with her. How did this happen?

I wonder if she had postpartum depression with her earlier births.

About that list of meds- the one thing that stands out to me is that seroquel is the only antipsychotic I saw on there. Not a psychiatrist but I do wonder why she would have tried three antidepressant meds, four for sleep or anxiety and one that is an old antidepressant more commonly prescribed for sleep ime (trazadone), but only one antipsychotic.

Makes me wonder why. That seems like the aggressive attacks are missing a front to me.

 

[iamshadow21]

I’m really just kind of emotionally catching up to thinking about what is actually going on with this case. It’s just upsetting all around. But, I keep coming back to her being a labor and delivery nurse. With really good health benefits. With a solid partner who could also take time off to be with her. How did this happen?

I wonder if she had postpartum depression with her earlier births.

About that list of meds- the one thing that stands out to me is that seroquel is the only antipsychotic I saw on there. Not a psychiatrist but I do wonder why she would have tried three antidepressant meds, four for sleep or anxiety and one that is an old antidepressant more commonly prescribed for sleep ime (trazadone), but only one antipsychotic.

Makes me wonder why. That seems like the aggressive attacks are missing a front to me.

We don't know the dosages, either. Some of the drugs on the list may have just been trace amounts left from earlier tries to find an effective dose or drug.

And the thing with Seroquel, is yeah, it's an antipsychotic but that's not all it does. It's the only one I've ever taken, but not for psychosis. A doctor prescribed it to me at a super low dosage off-label for anxiety. It didn't work for me, but apparently it does for some people. So yeah, the Seroquel may have been, probably was, prescribed for psychotic symptoms, but it could have been to control anxiety, too.

 

[spicyrock]

We don't know the dosages, either. Some of the drugs on the list may have just been trace amounts left from earlier tries to find an effective dose or drug.

And the thing with Seroquel, is yeah, it's an antipsychotic but that's not all it does. It's the only one I've ever taken, but not for psychosis. A doctor prescribed it to me at a super low dosage off-label for anxiety. It didn't work for me, but apparently it does for some people. So yeah, the Seroquel may have been, probably was, prescribed for psychotic symptoms, but it could have been to control anxiety, too.

It’s also described for depression in people who have bipolar disorder; lamictal is a bipolar med as well. Which, I’m trying not to speculate, bc meds are used so many ways- but I’m curious.

ETA- bipolar utterly destroys sleep. So there’s that as well. Could explain all of the benzos/ambien.

But, that’s just one piece of speculation.

 

[iamshadow21]

It’s also described for depression in people who have bipolar disorder; lamictal is a bipolar med as well. Which, I’m trying not to speculate, bc meds are used so many ways- but I’m curious.

ETA- bipolar utterly destroys sleep. So there’s that as well. Could explain all of the benzos/ambien.

But, that’s just one piece of speculation.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure to prescribe it he kinda had to fudge something to imply I had bipolar when I didn't. He wasn't being cavalier, he just had pretty substantial experience in psychiatric settings for a GP and thought it might help me. By then, I'd been on a lot of meds, and it was something I hadn't tried yet.

 

[I wonder]

Judge permits forensic psychologist to examine Lindsay Clancy as she awaits arraignment in deadly attack on her children - The Boston Globe

When she allegedly strangled her three children inside their Duxbury home last week, Lindsay Clancy was in the throes of homicidal and suicidal thoughts brought on by overmedication of drugs prescribed for mood disorders, anxiety, and psychosis, her new defense lawyer, Kevin J. Reddington, said.

www.bostonglobe.com

According to the lawyer, between last October and January, Lindsay Clancy was prescribed a total of 12 different medications.
They were: zolpidem which is sold under the brand name Ambien, clonazepam, which is sold under the brand name of Klonopin, diazepam which is sold under the brand name Valium, fluoxetine which is sold under the brand name Prozac, lamotrigine, which is sold under the brand name Lamictil, lorazepam, which is sold under the brand name Ativan, mirtazapine, which is sold under the brand name Remeron, quetiapine fumarate, which is sold under the brand name Seroquel, and trazodone, which is is known by the generic name.

I have bipolar and am in the UK. I’m on multiple drugs too. Zolpidem is a sleeping tablet and I took it for years. I would sleep walk and eat on it, with no recollection of it. I would go downstairs in the morning to find the back door open, the oven on, food everywhere etc. I also woke up with cut hands and feet from broken glass, burns on my pyjamas and once my neighbour heard my front door open, but not close and he found me wandering down the road. So many more examples. I have NO memories of them at all.


I also took Quetiapine. It made me incredibly suicidal. I planned ways to die. I’m agoraphobic and can’t leave my town, but I planned to travel hundreds of miles to stay in a hotel and jump in front of a train, off a building or off a cliff. I even contemplated killing my animals too, because I was worried about leaving them. They’re my world, I could never hurt them. It got so bad my friend wanted to take me to A&E and get me sectioned. This was terrifying. I asked her for one more chance and stopped taking in. It took a few days to get out of my system, but was so much better really quickly.

I’ve taken all the others of those mentioned. They all completely messed with my head and made me feel worse. Prozac made me sleep walk too. Extra drugs are added frequently and they make me so tired and out of it. Being like a zombie is really scary and I feel really vulnerable. I‘ve stopped taking all but two medications now and am just trying to battle through myself.

These are just my experiences, but I’m trying to say that her actions may not have solely been because of Post Partum Psychosis. These meds are powerful alone, mixed together, the side effects are seriously terrifying. When you’re already very depressed, these meds can make you feel so much worse.

I’m not talking about just starting these meds. Some I was on for years before I realised that it was them that made me so completely out of control. It’s really important that these meds are investigated as I’m certain they could have played a part in this unspeakably awful tragedy.

 

[spicyrock]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure to prescribe it he kinda had to fudge something to imply I had bipolar when I didn't. He wasn't being cavalier, he just had pretty substantial experience in psychiatric settings for a GP and thought it might help me. By then, I'd been on a lot of meds, and it was something I hadn't tried yet.

He’s not wrong. It’s prescribed for other things as well, intermittent explosive disorder for one, and even insomnia. I have tried to take it a couple of times for illness-related sleep issues. I have a pretty bad reaction to it, seizure-like attacks when falling asleep and night terrors. So, not helpful for me for sleep, lol.

I have taken almost all of the meds in Lindsay’s list. I think that almost gives me a false sense of security about them so I’m trying to watch myself.

It also gives me a little pause that Prozac is the only SSRI on there. Used to be that psychs would throw those at you til the cows came home- unless they triggered issues (one being -more speculation-mania)- before giving you things like Remeron and lamictal.

I wish I had a psych to talk to about this, and what other diseases this med profile could point to.

ETA to clarify, for the uninitiated- ssris are a known trigger of mania in bipolar patients.

 

[iamshadow21]

I wish I had a psych to talk to about this, and what other diseases this med profile could point to.

RSBM

It could be indicative of a particular profile... or it could be the spaghetti approach. If any of this, criminal or civil, goes anywhere near a courtroom, we might find out, but if it's ruled she's incompetent and a civil case against her doctors settles, we might never know.

 

[spicyrock]

RSBM

It could be indicative of a particular profile... or it could be the spaghetti approach. If any of this, criminal or civil, goes anywhere near a courtroom, we might find out, but if it's ruled she's incompetent and a civil case against her doctors settles, we might never know.

I will tell you the truth, I hate to not know the answers of things- but I really, really, really don’t want Lindsay to have a bipolar diagnosis. It’s hard enough trying to convince people that bipolar is a manageable, treatable illness with a thousand normal safe likeable people for every one Kanye, as it is.

But it’s also true that when people with bipolar have post partum depression, the results are catastrophic - so I can’t ignore it, and I hope no matter what I’m the end we have better awareness of PPD/PPP as a society and how to give support for it.

 

[elliefant]

The thing that strikes me about the meds is the period of time within which so many were prescribed. My depressed, sleepless and anxious relative has had some of these meds and was always told they take weeks (sometimes 4 sometimes 6) to have the desired effect. With the number of meds this lady had they can’t have been given long before trying something else, so a lot of them (or varying combinations) must have been tried for only a short time before switching to something else?

 

[spicyrock]

The thing that strikes me about the meds is the period of time within which so many were prescribed. My depressed, sleepless and anxious relative has had some of these meds and was always told they take weeks (sometimes 4 sometimes 6) to have the desired effect. With the number of meds this lady had they can’t have been given long before trying something else, so a lot of them (or varying combinations) must have been tried for only a short time before switching to something else?

I have noticed that too. Lamictal for ex takes six weeks to begin to reach effectiveness, and it gives a relatively gentle lift - and it carries a particular risk that can be life threatening (a weird rash) if not carefully monitored when you start taking it or increase your dose; if you miss four days of meds you have to re-titrate. An odd choice for a non-chronic illness. To my eye.

ETA- I would like to see the starting dates of the rxs.

 

[spicyrock]

I can’t help wondering, playing around with how this medication profile came to be and I know this may sound crazy to y’all but the more I think about it, the more I think her illness wasn’t treated aggressively enough.

All these benzos/ambien/trazadone meds for sleep and anxiety- they treat a symptom. Not a disease. It’s like they were trying to get her to rest but the underlying problem was not the target.

I keep thinking about (being a mom and a person with MI) how people, including medical professionals, don’t listen. Especially postpartum. It’s just hard to get people to take you seriously and if you are compromised by psychiatric condition, it’s also hard for you to communicate to them.

I wonder if Lindsay tried to say something is wrong, really wrong, my meds (maybe even meds she was already on- lamictal and seroquel would be typical long term care for bipolar, as just one ex) are not working? And psych just kept giving her more for sleep/anxiety, saying your meds should be fine, just give them time?

Another thing- she was inpatient. Did they prescribe any of these meds that the psych then continued? Were any meds discontinued? What did the psych change from the inpatient prescriptions, and what was the justification for it?

ETA- side note, when there is a need for sedation and anxiety is a target, ime the SSRI Zoloft is prescribed over prozac. Prozac just stands out to me. It doesn’t fit for a mood disordered patient with anxiety and sleep issues, to my eye. To continue with speculation, if Lindsay has an inadequately controlled bipolar disorder and was given this medication, that could have been disastrous. Jmo.

 

[Bostongirl]

I didn’t see that this was brought in yet.

The children’s funeral was yesterday in Scituate. The Reverend read Patrick Clancy’s eulogy for his children.

Funeral held for murdered children as mother's criminal defense begins

"It was a beautiful funeral mass, but it’s very, very difficult," said Rev. Bob Deehan.

www.wcvb.com