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Exactly. I do not want to scare anyone away from Percocet but it is helpful to know that there are reported cases in the literature of this relatively rare side effect (which means that if I were to take it, I would just make sure that my wife was made aware to look for any reactions).

As an aside, I know that all of our perceptions run wild and most of us -- especially me -- are skeptical when it comes to posts like mine. It may sound as if I am either trying to protect my friend by presenting a false story or that I am engaging in deluded, wishful thinking because I do not want to accept the negative reality. We know that both of these dynamics occur, and I know that my "skeptic" meter goes off very often.

I hope, however, that my sincerity comes through and that it is seen that what I posted is the truth. My wife - who knows how skeptical I am (I am an engineer and someone who demands proof in everything) - asked me how I initially accepted Percocet as the culprit before talking with my friend. I told her that it was because of my long talks with the detective who came to that conclusion. He was a 15+ year veteran who had that highly skeptical, "heard all the bullsh_t excuses" personna mixed with a very strong intellect. He went through everything he had investigated with me (it was extensive) and was ahead of me with understanding human dynamics. He told me that given all of the cases he investigated and/or was exposed to, this was not a voluntary suicide attempt (if it was, it would be the first one of its kind for him). He then said the only thing he could think of was that it was the percocet.

I then went and did research. I found objective cases reported in the literature of relatively rare reactions of suicidal ideation (as well as attempts and, unfortunately, completions). I then spoke with a PhD-level psychologist who is well-known in her field (is in both academia and private practice and used to conduct clinical trials). She confirmed my research. I then sent this information - via email - to the detective.

When my friend awoke from his medically-induced coma, I waited until he presented the subject. Once he did, I gave him the information. His reaction and extensive explanation of his experiences were the final proof. He was very glad that I shared the information because it was very scary to literally not have any memory of his actions and to not know why he had taken those actions.

I know this is lengthy but ... I wanted to add some detail to the original post.

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I'm a bit perplexed with the question. That was the first time I've posted (therefore, no 're-post'); I was unaware that this news story existed (I learned of it by accident when searching for my friend's home address).

More importantly, this news item and its associated comment threads still exist (and, as of 11/13/09, come up readily when searching with google). Given this (and given that no-one close to both the victim and the investigation has posted) it's only logical to post important information that wasn't represented in the existing posts. Also, it seems logical that an update on the victim's condition would be additionally appreciated.

I am a very close friend of the person identified as having attempted suicide. I also spoke at length a number of times with the investigating detective who said that in his long career - where he's investigated many suicide attempts- none of them had the characteristics that this had: where absolutely no signs existed beforehand (doing well at work, no withdrawal from his close-knit family/friends, no money or personal crises, etc.). The detective told me that the only thing he could think of was that it was due to a bad reaction to the Percocet that my friend was taking for the pain after his recent knee operation. I then did a great deal of research, including conferring with a top mental health researcher/clinician. The result is that there are cases of sudden suicidal ideation and actual attempts from Percocet (it's not a common side effect but there are cases in the literature; just as there are cases of suicidal ideation associated with other psychotropic medication). I gave this information to the detective.

When my friend regained consciousness (they kept him sedated for the pain during his initial recovery), I shared this information with him. He was very glad that I did because he literally had no clue as to what happened and how the heck he ended up in the hospital (he said it was very scary to have a memory of being in your room with nothing wrong and then waking up battered in an emergency room). The good news is that he's recovering well and will be able to walk again.