Prozac In Drinking Water/Prozac for dogs gets approval

[Guest guest]

Prozac In Drinking Water

http://www.pl.net/9.3health/prowat.htm

by Mark Townsend, August 8, 2004, The Observer

 

It should make us happy, but environmentalists are deeply alarmed: Prozac,

the anti-depression drug, is being taken in such large quantities that it

can now be found in Britain's drinking water.

 

Environmentalists are calling for an urgent investigation into the

revelations, describing the build-up of the antidepressant as 'hidden mass

medication'. The Environment Agency has revealed that Prozac is building

up both in river systems and groundwater used for drinking supplies.

 

The government's chief environment watchdog recently held a series of

meetings with the pharmaceutical industry to discuss any repercussions for

human health or the ecosystem.

 

The discovery raises fresh fears that GPs are overprescribing Prozac,

Britain's antidepressant of choice. In the decade up to 2001, overall

prescriptions of antidepressants rose from nine million to 24 million a

year.

 

A recent report by the Environment Agency concluded Prozac could be

potentially toxic in the water table and said the drug was a 'potential

concern'.

 

However, the precise quantity of Prozac in the nation's water supplies

remains unknown. The government's Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) said

Prozac was likely to be found in a considerably 'watered down' form that

was unlikely to pose a health risk.

 

Dr Andy Croxford, the Environment's Agency's policy manager for

pesticides, told The Observer: 'We need to determine the effects of this

low-level, almost continuous discharge.'

 

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat's environment spokesman, said the

revelations exposed a failing by the government on an important public

health issue. He added that the public should be told if they were

inadvertently taking drugs like Prozac.

 

'This looks like a case of hidden mass medication upon the unsuspecting

public,' Baker said. 'It is alarming that there is no monitoring of levels

of Prozac and other pharmacy residues in our drinking water.'

 

Experts say that Prozac finds its way into rivers and water systems from

treated sewage water. Some believe the drugs could affect their

reproductive ability.

 

European studies have also expressed disquiet over the impact of

pharmaceuticals building up in the environment, warning that an effect on

wildlife and human health 'cannot be excluded'.

 

'It is extremely unlikely that there is a risk, as such drugs are excreted

in very low concentrations,' a DWI spokesman said. 'Advanced treatment

processes installed for pesticide removal are effective in removing drug

residues,' he added.

 

 

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425822/1082511

 

Prozac for pooches gets approval

 

Apr 26, 2007

 

Man's best friend may have a new best friend after Eli Lilly and Co. won US

approval to sell its former blockbuster antidepressant Prozac to treat

misbehaving mutts.

 

The drug, repackaged into a chewable, beef-flavoured tablet to be called

Reconcile, was officially approved by the Food and Drug Administration for

the treatment of separation anxiety in dogs in conjunction with behaviour

modification training, the drugmaker said on Wednesday.

 

The product gives new life to a drug that was once Lilly's most lucrative

medicine before it lost patent protection several years ago and sales

evaporated in the face of generic competition.

 

" Lilly research shows that 10.7 million, or up to 17% of US dogs suffer from

separation anxiety, " Steve Connell, manager of technical, academic and

consumer services for companion animal health at Lilly, said in a statement.

 

Canine separation anxiety can occur when dogs are left alone and manifests

itself in a range of undesirable behaviours, such as destruction, excess

barking, eating disorders or urinating or defecating in the house.

 

The drug, known chemically as fluoxetine hydrochloride, can minimise a pet's

distress from being left alone, Lilly said. It belongs to a class of drugs

known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, which are used

to treat human depression.

 

Lilly said veterinarians may recommend tests before diagnosing separation

anxiety to rule out physiological rather than emotional causes of

inappropriate behaviour.

 

Reconcile will compete with Clomicalm from Swiss drugmaker Novartis, a

repackaged form of another older antidepressant from a different class of

drugs that is also approved for separation anxiety in dogs.

 

 

Source: Reuters