FDA Panel Advises Stronger Child-Suicide Warning for Antidepressants
FDA Panel Advises Stronger Child-Suicide Warning for Antidepressants
Antidepressants May Put Some Kids at Risk, FDA Panel Says
Feb. 3, 2004 -- The FDA should put out a stronger warning about the risk of suicide in kids who take antidepressant drugs, an FDA advisory panel says.
That's one of three conclusions the panel reached after its 12-hour session on Monday.
The panel concluded that this is "a reasonable possibility that some people are made worse by these drugs and we should be telling people that," an FDA spokesperson tells WebMD. "They said the FDA should take an interim step to provide this information to parents and to physicians."
The panel made two other recommendations:
Do antidepressants make some children suicidal? If so, do the drugs' benefits outweigh their risks?
Clinical trials usually provide answers to these questions. But when it comes to the question of whether antidepressants do children and teens more harm than good, there's no clear answer.
Last month, a task force for the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology issued its own interpretation of the published data on antidepressants and children. Not surprisingly, these psychiatrists and pharmacologists found that the benefits of the SSRI class of antidepressants -- which includes Celexa, Lexapro, Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft -- outweighed their risks to young people.
But even this group admitted that it had not seen most of the data, and that its findings had to be considered "preliminary." That's because much of it remains in the hands of the pharmaceutical companies that sponsored the studies.
Thomas P. Laughren, MD, is the FDA's team leader for psychiatric drug products. His team has made heroic efforts to comb through the drug-company data and published studies to evaluate antidepressants' actual benefits and risks for children and teens.
In a January 5 memo sent to members of the advisory panel, Laughren finds little evidence that antidepressants are effective in children.
Stronger Child-Suicide Warning Advised
Antidepressants May Put Some Kids at Risk, FDA Panel Says
Feb. 3, 2004 -- The FDA should put out a stronger warning about the risk of suicide in kids who take antidepressant drugs, an FDA advisory panel says.
That's one of three conclusions the panel reached after its 12-hour session on Monday.
The panel concluded that this is "a reasonable possibility that some people are made worse by these drugs and we should be telling people that," an FDA spokesperson tells WebMD. "They said the FDA should take an interim step to provide this information to parents and to physicians."
The panel made two other recommendations:
- Pharmaceutical company data from clinical trials of antidepressants in children and teens contains "signals" that some patients may become more suicidal after taking them. The panel endorsed an FDA plan to have an independent group at Columbia University comb through this data for more definitive information.
- The FDA must urge doctors who prescribe antidepressants to follow patients closely for signs of suicidal behavior or thinking.
Suicide and Antidepressants: No Clear Answers
Do antidepressants make some children suicidal? If so, do the drugs' benefits outweigh their risks?
Clinical trials usually provide answers to these questions. But when it comes to the question of whether antidepressants do children and teens more harm than good, there's no clear answer.
Last month, a task force for the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology issued its own interpretation of the published data on antidepressants and children. Not surprisingly, these psychiatrists and pharmacologists found that the benefits of the SSRI class of antidepressants -- which includes Celexa, Lexapro, Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft -- outweighed their risks to young people.
But even this group admitted that it had not seen most of the data, and that its findings had to be considered "preliminary." That's because much of it remains in the hands of the pharmaceutical companies that sponsored the studies.
Thomas P. Laughren, MD, is the FDA's team leader for psychiatric drug products. His team has made heroic efforts to comb through the drug-company data and published studies to evaluate antidepressants' actual benefits and risks for children and teens.
In a January 5 memo sent to members of the advisory panel, Laughren finds little evidence that antidepressants are effective in children.
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