FDA May Expand Antidepressant Warnings

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Main Category: Depression
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry;  Bipolar;  Mental Health
Article Date: 13 Dec 2006 - 11:00 PDT

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Should the FDA support the implementation of tough new warnings on antidepressants? This is being discussed today by an FDA Advisory Panel. Many parents and relatives of patients think there should be an expanded warning, while psychiatrists are concerned that patients with clinical depression may be put off taking drugs that can treat the illness effectively.

According to an FDA study, adults under 25 who are treated, short-term with some new antidepressants, have a higher risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts and actions. They found, however, that the opposite was the case for elderly patients - their risk of suicidal thoughts went down. New antidepressants include Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, Cymbalta and Effexor. Sales of these drugs were well over $12 billion last year.

Long-term treatment with antidepressants is linked to a lower risk of suicidal thoughts and actions, among both children and adults. The concern here is for short-term treatment, where the risk is greater during the first two or three months.

The current warning relates to suicidal thoughts among children and teenagers, but not young adults. Some relatives of patients who committed suicide while on antidepressants have urged the panel to expand the warning to include all age groups.

Many healthcare professionals say this is a catch-22 situation, whose solution could eventually become the cause of a bigger problem. A person with depression has a significantly higher risk of committing suicide. Would the strong warning put many patients off, and would this lead to more suicides? Untreated depression may have a much more disruptive effect on millions of patients.

In a nutshell: Will the expanded warnings inform and help, or will they encourage patients with depression to try to cope without treatment?

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today


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