Side Effects Page #4

They were both asleep at the time.

Another acquittal.

I have to tell you, I have

been approached by the state

to consult for them as well.

I assumed as much.

I am in a rather difficult spot here.

I hope you appreciate that.

I know you are, but if she goes away,

this does not look good for you.

It just makes the whole

system look bad.

She ever talk about

killing her husband?

No. If she had, I would

have reported it.

You spoken to any of the family?

Martin's mother. She's

the one who hired me.

We need your help.

You want to talk about it?

(SIGHING)

A patient of mine was arrested.

For something bad?

Yeah. Pretty bad.

Did the person do it?

Are they guilty?

(SIGHING)

In this case,

those are two very different things.

I was afraid you would never

want to see me again.

I hope you know that if I could

trade places with Martin, I would.

I would give anything if there were

someone who could make that deal.

I just don't understand

how it happened. How?

I don't know.

I don't know. It doesn't fit for me.

It's like...

It's like it never happened.

But I don't understand it.

You watch the commercials on

TV, people are getting better!

I was getting better. Dr. Banks

was really helping me.

But, he just got out

and now he's gone.

I know.

Can I give you something?

What?

I want to make a statement.

People need to know what can happen.

For Martin's sake.

MARTHA ON TV:

"We go to doctors

"with our sadness

"and our faith in the hope they

will guide us toward health.

"But instead I have gone

down a path toward a misery

"I never could have imagined.

"And I have taken

my loved ones with me.

"My only hope is that no one

else follows me to this place. "

ELLIOTT:
And again, this is a

note from your daughter-in-la w.

MARTHA:
Yes.

Who may face murder charges.

Yes.

For what a drug made her do.

We invited a representative from

Sadler-Benelux, the makers of Ablixa,

to come here this morning

and discuss this very tragic

story, but they declined.

However, our Dr. Peter Joubert,

in fact, a Manhattan psychiatrist

who specializes in anti-depression

drugs like Ablixa,

is here to discuss

the dangers of these side effects.

Peter, if nothing else, this seems

a very troubling gray area.

Josh, it is. And that is

why the FDA, in 2004,

asked that anti-depressants come

with a black box warning...

DIERDRE:
Which one,

zucchini or asparagus?

...because their use was

associated with an increased risk

of suicidality in

children and adolescents.

Zucchini or asparagus?

I don't know. Both.

That warning was expanded to

include young adults in their 20s.

ELLIOTT:
Peter, where's

the doctor in all this?

What's his or her responsibility?

JOUBERT:
I'm sure people have

a lot of questions for him.

DIERDRE:
What about the permission

slip for the field trip?

Do you have that?

Did you remember?

Are you excited? What?

There he is! Dr. Banks!

DIERDRE:
Did someone famous...

How long have you been

seeing Emily Taylor?

Seeing who?

Did you know that your husband

was treating Emily Taylor?

Take him out of here.

What is happening?

BANKS:
Go that way!

MALE REPORTER:

What about this picture?

Have you seen the front

page of the Post today?

You have no comment about any of this?

No, not at the moment.

Do you have any comment

at all about this?

BANKS:
I have no comment. She's my patient.

That's all I can say.

FEMALE REPORTER:

What's your relationship?

I saw some press people downstairs.

I think they had cameras.

Is that for you?

There's a back stairway,

if you'd be more comfortable

leaving that way.

(CHUCKLES)

My wife never liked me coming here.

I'm worried she's

going to see something.

It's going

to be a "thing. "

Was she the one with the blonde hair?

I think I saw her in the elevator.

She seemed totally normal.

I'd really like to focus more

on what's going on with you.

What was she taking? It's

not what I'm taking, is it?

No. You're taking

something else.

You'd...

You'd tell me, right?

CHILDS:
As part of the Office's

medical conduct review,

we'll need to have access

to your charts and records.

Current and past patients.

Absolutely.

Whatever you need.

You went to school

in the UK, at Durham.

Mmm.

What made you decide to

practice here in the States?

Where I come from, if anyone

goes to see a psychiatrist

or takes medication, the

assumption is they're sick.

Here, the assumption

is they're getting better.

I see.

You first came in contact with Miss

Taylor after a suicide attempt.

She drove her car into a wall.

You decided not to hospitalize her?

She described her suicide

attempt as a mistake.

And expressed a desire to get better.

Her husband wanted her home as well.

In addition, she had no

history of violent behavior.

Driving a car into

a wall isn't violent?

I didn't think she posed

a risk to others.

I saw her regularly,

here in my office,

and consulted with her

previous doctor as well.

Dr. Siebert.

Hmm.

I've spoken to her.

You also do work at the

hospital, a number of shifts.

Sometimes nights.

And you said you're doing

pharmaceutical consulting.

That's a pretty large workload.

My wife lost her job.

And we have a boy, my

stepson, in private school.

I bought a new place downtown, too.

So, longer hours, higher volume

of patients, more stress.

(SIGHING)

Anything else?

I'll need to ask your

partners some questions.

Of course.

DIERDRE:
They can't come after

you for any of this, right?

BANKS:
No, that's

not going to happen.

They don't blame me.

I'm just an expert witness.

Like I was on that case

with the kid from Uganda

who couldn't stop stealing stuff.

They just need me to explain

things to the jury. That's all.

So after the trial, it's over.

Absolutely.

MAN:
She was sad.

Very sad.

Every day.

ATTORNEY:

Did she say why?

No. It is just

how she was.

OFFICER:

Some people slip.

Some jump.

We keep an eye out.

I remember her.

Right on the edge.

She worried me.

BANKS:

What makes us human?

What differentiates us

from, let's say, insects,

is that we have consciousness.

An awareness of what we're

thinking and what we're doing.

If, for example, I'm hungry,

lam consciously aware of that.

And so, I go to the fridge

and I make myself a sandwich.

So you intend to make a sandwich.

BANKS:
Yes.

So, what you are saying

is that to have intent,

we must also have consciousness.

Objection, Your Honor.

The question calls for a legal

conclusion, not a medical one.

JUDGE:
Overruled.

You may continue.

Consciousness provides a context,

or meaning, for our actions.

If that part of you

doesn't exist, then,

basically, we are functioning

much like an insect,

where you just respond instinctively

without a thought to

what your actions mean.

ATTORNEY:

And that part...

That part that provides

meaning to action,

does that exist when we're asleep?

BANKS:
No.

No.

ATTORNEY:
So, without consciousness,

how do we prove intent?

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