SSRIs how well do they work?

March 4, 2008

h " Drug firms pressed on secret pill data "

# Jo Revill, Whitehall editor

# The Observer,

# Sunday March 2 2008

The big pharmaceutical companies are to be 'shamed' into handing over

their secret data on the effects of antidepressant medications, amid

growing concern that the 'sunshine pills' may not work as well as

originally promised.

A government minister has taken the unprecedented step of calling on

the drugs companies to give the data to the body that will review the

current depression guidelines, the National Institute for Health and

Clinical Excellence (Nice). Ivan Lewis, the minister with

responsibility for mental health, said that 'a failure to do so would

leave the inevitable impression they had something to hide'.

Nice, the body that looks at the effectiveness of all treatments and

recommends to the NHS how they should be used, is embarking on a fresh

look at the antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake

inhibitors, or SSRIs. Its most recent guidance was published four

years ago. However, the organisation has no legal right to see

unpublished data and can only request it from a company, which might

refuse to give it if the findings were negative.

Backed by the government, Nice is now set publicly to ask for all the

data, which would leave the companies facing huge criticism if they

did not hand it over. The toughening stance towards the companies

follows the publication last week of a major review that examined all

available data on the drugs, including trials that had not been published.

It showed that antidepressants taken by millions of people worldwide

did not appear to work well - unless they were being given to the most

severely depressed patients. They found that when patients on the

drugs were compared with those who were taking a placebo they showed

similar rates of improvement......

Thanks Vince

Recommended Posts