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Antidepressant drugs increase the risk of suicide in children and adults
"Antidepressants should come with the nation's strongest warning — in a black box on the label — that they can sometimes spur suicidal behavior in children and teenagers, the government's scientific advisers decided Tuesday." Antidepressants-Suicide Risk (AP) WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2004

Drug companies lied to the FDA and to doctors about the risks of antidepressant drugs. As it turns out, the drug companies knew all along that their drugs increased the risk for suicide, but they illegally withheld this information from the FDA, from doctors, and - of course - from the patients: people like you. The following excerpt is from the world's leading medical journal THE LANCET (12 June 2004).

Paroxetine's (Paxil) safety and efficacy in children have been tested in at least five studies sponsored by GSK, only one of which has been published. Although that trial's results were mixed, they were heralded in a memorandum entitled "Paxil demonstrates REMARKABLE Efficacy and Safety in the treatment of adolescent depression". The other studies showed either mixed or negative results: paroxetine was no better than placebo at treating depression in children, and was associated with a possibly increased risk of suicidal thinking and acts. What constituted suicidal behaviour was eventually coded as "emotional lability". Doctors were able to obtain some, though not all, of this information, only by specific request. An internal memorandum issued at GSK in 1998, now disavowed, was aimed at managing "the dissemination of these data in order to minimize any potential negative commercial impact".

The lawsuit alleges that GSK suppressed the results of these studies, failing to make them available to doctors, in a demonstration of "repeated and persistent fraud". By providing only partial information about safety and efficacy, GSK caused doctors to have a biased and misleading picture of the drug. Doctors were thus unable to assess the balance of its risks and benefits and could not discharge their professional duties to their patients.

Several studies over the last 2-3 years have confirmed that the increased risk for suicide extends beyond children to adults, too. An article published by the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION recently showed that antidepressants in general cause an increased risk for suicide in adults, particularly in the first few days of treatment. The risk for attempted suicide increases 4x after starting antidepressant drugs, and the risk of death by suicide increases by 38x!!

Antidepressants and the risk of suicidal behaviors.
JAMA. 2004 Jul 21;292(3):338-43

Jick H, Kaye JA, Jick SS. Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Boston University School of Medicine, Lexington, Mass 02421, USA.

...RESULTS: After controlling for age, sex, calendar time, and time from first antidepressant prescription to the onset of suicidal behavior, the relative risks for newly diagnosed nonfatal suicidal behavior in 555 cases and 2062 controls were 0.83 (95% confidence interval, [CI] 0.61-1.13) for amitriptyline, 1.16 (95% CI, 0.90-1.50) for fluoxetine, and 1.29 (95% CI, 0.97-1.70) for paroxetine compared with those using dothiepin. The RR for suicidal behavior among patients first prescribed an antidepressant within 1 to 9 days before their index date was 4.07 (95% CI, 2.89-5.74) compared with patients who were first prescribed an antidepressant 90 days or more before their index date. Time since first antidepressant prescription was not, however, a confounder of the relation between specific antidepressants and suicidal behavior since its relation to suicidal behavior was not materially different among users of the 4 study drugs. Similarly for fatal suicide, the RR among patients who were first prescribed an antidepressant within 1 to 9 days before their index date was 38.0 (95% CI, 6.2-231) compared with those who were first prescribed an antidepressant 90 days or more before their index date. There were no significant associations between the use of a particular study antidepressant and the risk of suicide. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of suicidal behavior after starting antidepressant treatment is similar among users of amitriptyline, fluoxetine, and paroxetine compared with the risk among users of dothiepin. The risk of suicidal behavior is increased in the first month after starting antidepressants, especially during the first 1 to 9 days. A possible small increase in risk (bordering statistical significance) among those starting the newest antidepressant, paroxetine, is of a magnitude that could readily be due to uncontrolled confounding by severity of depression. Based on limited information, we also conclude that there is no substantial difference in effect of the 4 drugs on people aged 10 to 19 years.

These risks are both unacceptable and unnecessary. Several studies have already shown that natural treatments are consistently effective for the treatment of depression - without the unnecessary risks of injury and death associated with synthetic chemical drugs.