Tell the Truth About Antidepressants On Drug Labels & in Medical Journals

[Guest guest]

Thu, 16 Sep 2004

 

ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP)

Promoting openness and full disclosure

http://www.ahrp.org

 

FYI

 

An April, 2004 editorial in the New York Times noted: " What seems most

astonishing is the skimpy evidence that these drugs work at all in

most young patients. "

 

What is astonishing is how the commercial / academic psychiatric drug

establishment--including the American Psychiatric Association, the

National Institute of Mental Health, academic opinion leaders of

psychiatry, including the " expert consensus panels " who make treatment

determinations--were able to fool the American public for over a

decade with false claims about the safety and efficacy of the new

" miracle " antidepressants--the SSRIs.

 

The overall risk of suicide is characterized as " low " - two to three

young people out of 100 patients are likely to have more suicidal

thoughts compared to those given placebos.

 

But, as the Times Journal notes: " those numbers are flat out worrisome

given the fact that the pediatric use of anti-depressants is soaring

in the United States. "

 

FDA's advisory panel recommendation is being criticized by both those

with a stake in the drugs who regard any warning as " alarmist " and by

those who want the drugs banned altogether: " The bottom line in the

FDA panel's recommendations is akin to changing the Hippocratic oath -

" First do no harm " - with one that says, " Give it a shot, but warn

them first. "

 

The Times Journal reports: Dr. Thomas Newman, a professor of

pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, who was

member of the FDA advisory panel, offered this summation: " We have

very good evidence of harm and very little evidence of efficacy. "

 

The truth about the antidepression hoax has been laid out in numerous

books and articles, but the authors were pilloried by industry's

stakeholders.

Until now, the public has been deceived by a highly organized,

extremely well financed promotional apparatus. Fake science has been

passed off as " evidence-based " treatment strategies; selective,

partial data has been manipulated to show " positive " results;

physicians and parents have been deceived--and children were put in

harm's way, exposed to potentially lethal drugs that have not

demonstrated an effect greater than placebo.

 

In today's editorial (Sept. 16) the Times acknowledges: " The latest

medical verdict on the use of antidepressant pills to treat teenagers

and children is every bit as depressing as the original warnings

raised months ago. There is remarkably little evidence that most of

the pills are effective in treating depression in such young patients

and increasing evidence that they can lead to suicidal thoughts and

behavior...Unfortunately, nothing in their arsenal is notably effective. "

 

Based on the scientific evidence, it is clear that the safest and most

effective treatment for childhood depression is placebo. Placebo

carries no adverse side-effects, causes no stigma, and is free. To

elicit a placebo effect, parents would do well to create a nurturing

environment, provide lots of personal attention, listen attentively,

and convey sense of optimism in the effectiveness of the treatment.

 

For parents who still want to expose their children to the drugs, an

informed consent process must be established so that the risks are

explained to parents BEFORE they are issued a prescription--NOT an

after the fact Medication Guide.

 

 

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

Tel: 212-595-8974

e-mail: veracare

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/16/opinion/16thu3.html?pagewanted=print & posit

ion=

THE NEW YORK TIMES

EDITORIAL

September 16, 2004

Risks of Antidepressants

 

The latest medical verdict on the use of antidepressant pills to treat

teenagers and children is every bit as depressing as the original

warnings raised months ago. There is remarkably little evidence that

most of the pills are effective in treating depression in such young

patients and increasing evidence that they can lead to suicidal

thoughts and behavior. An advisory panel to the Food and Drug

Administration was quite right this week when it urged the strongest

possible warnings for doctors and patients about the potential dangers.

 

The panel shied away from urging a complete ban on antidepressants for

children and teenagers, and for good reason. Left untreated,

depression can create a far greater suicide risk than the pills.

Doctors desperately need weapons to combat major depression, even if

those weapons carry some risk.

 

Unfortunately, nothing in their arsenal is notably effective. One

large trial showed that talk therapy was no better than a placebo at

alleviating depression in these young patients, and a vast majority of

antidepressant pills have also failed when tested for this age group.

Only Prozac has shown consistent effectiveness, and only Prozac has

been specifically approved for use in young patients, although there

is new evidence that it, too, can cause suicidal tendencies. The other

antidepressants are prescribed by doctors in the belief, perhaps

mistaken, that they are effective in young people.

 

The F.D.A.'s expert panel thought the pills too important to ban. A

third of the panelists opposed even an extra-strong warning on

information sheets for doctors lest it discourage treatment that could

be lifesaving for some young patients.

 

The F.D.A. typically gives great weight to the views of its advisory

committees, but it is not obliged to adopt them. What patients,

parents and doctors most need is not just a warning, but the clearest

possible guidance as to which of these drugs are safer and more

effective than the others.

 

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

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