Bible College Mourns Suicide of Student Involved in Drug Trials
by Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
February 18, 2004
(AgapePress) - A small Pentecostal college in Indiana has been remembering a freshman student who committed suicide while participating in the clinical testing of a new antidepressant drug.Indiana Bible College recently held a memorial service for Traci Johnson, who hanged herself at Eli Lilly and Company's research lab at the Indiana University Medical Center. In an effort to raise money for tuition, the 19-year-old Johnson had been taking the pill Duloxetine as part of a paid drug study conducted by Eli Lilly.
According to an IndyStar.com report, the drug Duloxetine is an important future business prospect for Lilly as the main ingredient in the antidepressant Cymbalta and another treatment, both nearing final approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The company does not intend to halt clinical trials of Duloxetine.
Talmadge French, one of Johnson's teachers at IBC, says he is not sure whether the antidepressant contributed to the freshman's suicide, but he notes that the college has never encouraged students to participate in the Lilly drug studies.
"I spoke with her, and I had no idea she was going to be doing the study, but she indicated that she thought this was best for her to take some time off; so we tried to work out to have her just come right back," French says. "It wasn't until later that we found out precisely what she was doing at Lilly."
French, who is Dean of Biblical Studies at the Bible college, says he taught Johnson in several classes and remembers her as a "sweet, vivacious girl" and a good student. He says the school was small, with only a few hundred students, and its fairly close-knit community has been strongly affected by the Johnson's untimely death.
"Everyone knew Tracy. We were stunned. It just was not something we would ever have suspected at all," French says, "and I think students have acted courageously -- but they've been deeply moved by it."
Eli Lilly and Company has said it does not believe Johnson's suicide was directly related to her participation in the testing of the drug Duloxetine, which the company hopes to launch this year. A spokesman for Eli Lilly called the incident "a real tragedy" and extended condolences to Johnson's family on the company's behalf.
