January 10, 2005 – Warnings about the risks of increased suicidal or aggressive behavior must now accompany prescriptions for antidepressants, in both Canada and the United States. These warnings reflect some concerns about these drugs, especially when they are taken by young people.
In June 2004, Health Canada required that all new prescription antidepressants be accompanied by such a warning to the consumer. Last fall, the American food control body, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), also targeted young patients by forcing pharmaceutical companies to insert a warning to them in the documentation accompanying this type of drug. .
The FDA adopted these measures following recommendations made by a committee of experts that synthesized several clinical studies on young users of antidepressants. This committee found that taking antidepressants doubled the risk of suicidal or aggressive behavior in those under the age of 18.
A link between taking antidepressants and the aggressive or suicidal behavior of young consumers has started to emerge since confidential documents on the subject were presented in court cases. Lawsuits between families of deceased young antidepressant users and manufacturers, as well as murder lawsuits against young men taking antidepressants, have uncovered clinical trials whose findings had never been published. These studies, conducted in the 1980s, suggest that drug companies knew that antidepressants could exacerbate suicidal or aggressive tendencies in young patients, but that they chose not to disclose this information.
An article published by the magazine Protect yourself points out that the use of antidepressants by young people is not, with some exceptions, officially approved by the FDA or by Health Canada.
Marie france Coutu – Proteus Network
From Protégez-vous and British Medical Journal.
