Depression drugs 'little better than placebos': study

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Depression drugs 'little better than placebos': study

by Katherine Haddon

Agence France Presse

02-26-2008

 

Best-selling anti-depressants like Prozac and Seroxat are barely more

effective than placebos in treating most people with depression, a

study led by a British university said Tuesday.

 

The research, which analysed 47 clinical trials, breaks new ground by

incorporating data not previously released by drug companies which

researchers obtained under US freedom of information laws.

 

Its findings prompted some academics and mental health campaigners to

question whether people with mild and moderate depression should be

prescribed drugs like Prozac, which has been taken by 40 million

people worldwide.

 

" The difference in improvement between patients taking placebos and

patients taking anti-depressants is not very great, " said Professor

Irving Kirsch of Hull University, in northern England, who led the

team.

 

" This means that depressed people can improve without chemical

treatments.

 

" Given these results, there seems little reason to prescribe

antidepressant medication to any but the most severely depressed

patients unless alternative treatments have failed to provide a

benefit. "

 

The study, published in the journal PLoS (Public Library of Science)

Medicine, looked at Prozac, Seroxat, Effexor and Serzone and found

the drugs were only better than a placebo for some people with severe

depression.

 

Kirsch's team said it was one of the most thorough probes into the

impact of new generation anti-depressants or selective serotonin

reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

 

But drug companies strongly questioned the findings.

 

A spokesman for Eli Lilly, which makes Prozac, said that " extensive

scientific and medical experience " had shown it is " an effective anti-

depressant. "

 

And GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Seroxat, said the study had not

acknowledged the " very positive benefits " of the drugs.

 

" Their conclusions are at odds with what has been seen in actual

clinical practice, " a spokesman said.

 

" It is widely recognised by experts in the field that studies in

depression are challenging and very difficult to conduct. "

 

One leading academic who has studied why drug companies only publish

some of their data on new drugs said in the wake of the findings they

should be obliged to provide full details.

 

Doctor Tim Kendall, deputy director of Britain's Royal College of

Psychiatrists research unit, said the study was " fantastically

important. "

 

" I think it's too dangerous to allow drug companies -- where profit

is a key factor -- to be able to withhold data which shows that a

drug is ineffective or harmful, " he said.

 

Alison Cobb, of British mental health charity Mind, hailed the

findings as " a serious challenge to the predominance of drugs in

treating depression. "

 

" Anti-depressants do help many people but by no means all and some

people experience severe side-effects with them, " she said.

 

" Nine out of 10 GPs (general practitioners) say they've been forced

to dish out drugs because they don't have proper access to 'talking

treatments' such as cognitive behavioural therapy, which are

recommended as the first-line treatment for mild to moderate

depression. "

 

Another mental health charity, Sane, warned the findings " could

remove what has been seen as a vital choice for thousands, " adding

people should not stop taking their drugs immediately.

 

As the study was published, the British government published details

of a 170-million-pound (225-million-euro, 335-million dollar)

programme to improve access to counselling and therapy for people

with depression.

 

Officials say this should see 900,000 more people receiving such

treatments over the next three years.

 

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