Former intern shot himself to see if an online rumor about its drug caused nightmares

Former intern Ethan Gilmer shot and maimed himself because he wanted to see if what he saw on the Internet could be real. (Susan Kuczka for Fox News) A former intern at Pfizer worked…

Former intern shot himself to see if an online rumor about its drug caused nightmares

Former intern Ethan Gilmer shot and maimed himself because he wanted to see if what he saw on the Internet could be real. (Susan Kuczka for Fox News)

A former intern at Pfizer worked in an office park in New Jersey where patients were tested for the efficacy of shots of a controversial cold medicine before the $4.5 billion drug company introduced it.

Ethan Gilmer, of Bronxville, shot himself with a shotgun and maimed himself.

Gilmer shot himself because he wanted to see if he could prove that the story circulating on the internet — that clonazepam, produced by Pfizer, caused debilitating sleep problems that used to afflict those with severe depression — could be true.

Pfizer, Gilmer’s employer, was ready to launch a labeling change that might make that impossible.

A laundry list of serious medical problems, including anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, heart problems, suicidal intent, paralysis and organ failure, was posted on the internet and took doctors by surprise.

In a criminal complaint filed in a Rockland County, New York, court, Pfizer said the intern “allegedly committed a crime with the intent to end his own life and to cause serious bodily injury to a fellow employee at Pfizer.”

Read the full story at FoxNews.com.

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