A national expert on
suicide and depression testified Wednesday that he does not agree with
statements made during the kidnapping and rape trial for former police
detective Anthony Orban that the prescription drug Zoloft causes side effects
like numbness and unconsciousness.
Dr.
Douglas Jacobs testified during Orban's trial in West Valley Superior Court, in
Rancho Cucamonga. Orban, formerly of the Westminster Police Department, is on
trial for the kidnapping and rape of a waitress from the Ontario Mills mall
parking lot in April 2010.
Prosecutors
allege Orban kidnapped the woman at gunpoint and drove her to a Fontana
shopping center, where he then beat and raped her for an hour. The defense has
said Orban's behavior was the result of a "psychotic
break from reality" brought on by prescription drugs.
Orban,
a former U.S. Marine, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after
returning from Iraq, his lawyer James Blatt has said. He was prescribed the
anti-depressant Zoloft and an anti-seizure medication called Neurotonin.
Jacobs
testified Wednesday that Zoloft has been prescribed to millions of patients.
"It's
the must common psychiatric drug prescribed," the witness said. Jacobs
explained that he prescribes Zoloft to his own patients and has not had any
problems with delirium, psychosis, mania or unconsciousness.
The
doctor testified that nowhere does the U.S. Food and Drug Administration say
Zoloft causes violence, mania or unconsciousness. If the FDA believed Zoloft
causes violence, Jacobs said, it can pull the drug off the market.
Prosecutor
Debbie Ploghaus then asked Jacobs about rape.
Jacobs
testified that 30 percent of rapes have involved the use of a weapon. The
average age-range of males who rape is between 25 and 44 years old, he said.
About
one-third to two-thirds of rape suspects are married. Also, In 70 percent of
reported rapes, the accused has alcohol in their system, Jacobs said.