SSRI Drug News
Study links antidepressant use among elderly with broken bones
A Canadian study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine has found that adults over 50 who use a popular type of antidepressant face twice the risk of broken bones as non-users. The study also found that the antidepressant users suffered many more falls than those not on the drugs.
FDA weighs new antidepressant suicide warning
The Food and Drug Administration may issue new warnings about the risk of suicide for several types of antidepressants. The new warnings would advise patients that a class of antidepressants known as SSRIs can increase suicidal thoughts or behavior in patients up to age 24. A previous warning about antidepressant dangers only spoke of a suicide risk for children and adolescents.
FDA panel to consider antidepressant-suicide link
An advisory panel at the Food and Drug Administration will hear testimony from experts on whether the agency should expand suicide warnings for antidepressants. In 2004, the FDA added a “black-box” warning—its strongest kind—which stated that antidepressants can raise the risk of suicide in children or teenagers.
FDA panel to hear from Barth-Menzies and other SSRI experts
Suicide data from studies of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors will be the subject of a public hearing next week of the Food and Drug Administration’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee. A vote is expected to be taken on whether to impose a “black-box” warning about the risk of suicidality on the labels of all SSRI drugs such as Celexa (made by Parke-Davis), Lexapro (Forest), Prozac (Eli Lilly), Zoloft (Pfizer) and Paxil (GlaxoSmithKline).
Suicide attempts up with antidepressants, but death rate lower
Researchers in Finland have found that suicidal patients taking antidepressants have an increased risk of additional suicide attempts but are less likely to die as a result.
Study links SSRIs to violence
Paxil, one of the new antidepressants in a class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) previously linked to suicide now has been found to have an association with violence.
Increased violence seen in antidepressant users
A study by the online journal Public Library of Science-Medicine has found that cases of violent or hostile behavior can be a side effect of using a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which includes Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft. Investigators analyzing data from previous studies and drug trials found that SSRIs roughly doubled “hostility events” such as homicide, suicide and aggression among patients. The risk for hostility events for children with obsessive-compulsive disorder was 17 times greater.
Patients complain of antidepressant withdrawal symptoms
As the use of antidepressants has risen over the last decade, patients have become increasingly worried about withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking the drugs. Some withdrawal symptoms for Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac and Lexapro—members of a class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)—are so severe that many doctors have stopped prescribing them altogether.
FDA calls for new warnings on antidepressants
The Food and Drug Administration has asked the makers of a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to add new warnings to the drugs’ labels. These warnings, for drugs including Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac and Lexapro, were prompted by potential side effects from using them. The new labels would advise patients about a serious lung condition in newborns whose mothers took the drug during pregnancy. Another warning would caution against combining SSRIs with triptans, a class of migraine drugs, which could result in a potentially life-threatening condition known as serotonin syndrome.
Judge refuses to dismiss widower?s Paxil lawsuit
A U.S. district court judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that Jon R. Hoppe can proceed in his wrongful death lawsuit against Paxil manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, rejecting defense arguments to dismiss the case.