Warning on Prozac for Children - European Medicines Agency ruled

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1470111,00.html

..Warning on Prozac for children.Sarah BoseleyTuesday April 26, 2005The Guardian.Doctors were yesterday told not to give Prozac to children by the European medicines regulator, ruling out the one antidepressant of its class that the British authorities had allowed to be prescribed to under-18s..Prozac and other drugs of the class called SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) can make some children and adolescents feel suicidal or become hostile and aggressive, the European Medicines Agency ruled yesterday..Reviews of the clinical trials carried out on these drugs with children show that they offer little benefit to weigh against the potentially life-threatening side-effects some under-18s experience.The one exception made by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which came to a similar conclusion in Britain in June 2003, was Prozac..The European decision puts doctors in a bigger quandary than before. Those who were convinced that antidepressants worked in children would have prescribed Prozac but GPs and psychiatrists will have problems offering anything else, because there is a serious shortage of alternatives. There are long waiting lists for the so-called "talking therapies" because of shortages of funds and counselling staff..Related articles.10.12.2004: Prozac 'unsafe for children' http://www.guardian.co.uk/Society/mentalhealth/story/0,8150,1371244,00.html

..08.12.2004: Mary Kenny: Prozac and Seroxat cannot cure the human condition http://www.guardian.co.uk/Society/mentalhealth/comment/0,8146,1368866,00.html

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07.12.2004: Antidepressant pills 'too readily prescribed' http://www.guardian.co.uk/Society/mentalhealth/story/0,8150,1367938,00.html

..06.12.2004: Antidepressants ruled safe for adults http://www.guardian.co.uk/Society/mentalhealth/story/0,8150,1367669,00.html

..05.12.2004: GPs warned against happy pills http://www.guardian.co.uk/Society/mentalhealth/story/0,8150,1366921,00.html

..18.11.2004: Antidepressants for children soar http://www.guardian.co.uk/Society/mentalhealth/story/0,8150,1353760,00.html

..14.06.2004: Safety alert on adult use of antidepressants http://www.guardian.co.uk/Society/mentalhealth/story/0,8150,1238132,00.html

..23.04.2004: SSRI dangers for children 'suppressed' http://www.guardian.co.uk/Society/mentalhealth/story/0,8150,1201844,00.html

 

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