By Brian Carnell

Thursday, April 18, 2002

On January 5, 2002, 15-year old Charles Bishop flew a Cessna into a 42-story office building in Tampa, Florida. The boy left behind a suicide note expressing support for Osama bin Laden and the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Bishop's mother, Julia, is suing the makers of the acne drug Accutane, alleging that the drug caused him to be depressed and suicidal. This despite the fact that no traces of Accutane were found in Charles Bishop's system and there is no evidence to date that Accutane contributes to suicide (in fact, given the population it is given to, Accutane users might actually have a lower suicide rate than non-Accutane users).

But where would this smart boy who was an honor's student get the idea that killing himself might be a good idea?

Perhaps from Julia Bishop. As the Associated Press reported shortly after the January incident, the then Julia Detore and Charles Bishop's father, Charles Bishara, tried to obtain a marriage license when she was 17 and he was 19. A mix up in the paperwork prevented them from obtaining the marriage license.

So what did Detore and Bishara do? They formed a suicide pact. First they tried to kill themselves by stuffing a rag into the tailpipe of Detore's car and flooding the car with carbon monoxide.

That did not work so they agreed that Detore would stab Bishara with a butcher knife and then slash her own wrists. After being stabbed, Bishara changed his mind and asked Detore to call an ambulance. She was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to commit murder. Since Bishara refused to cooperate with prosecutors, however, all charges were dropped.

No word on whether Julia Bishop plans to sue the makers of Accutane for her own little adventures in suicide.

Source:

Teen pilot's parents had suicide pact in '84. Associated Press, January 10, 2002.

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