Free Republic

For most people taking antidepressants, the risk of a diminished sex drive may seem like a worthwhile sacrifice for the benefits from the drugs. Up to 70 percent of patients on antidepressants report sexual side effects, yet the number of Americans who take the drugs has ballooned since Prozac was introduced in the late 1980's. Last year, studies show, doctors in the United States wrote 213 million prescriptions for antidepressants. But what if the sexual side effects of the drugs, often considered little more than a nuisance, had more serious consequences, impairing not only sexual desire in some people, but...

The number of depressed American children being treated with antidepressants has soared over the past decade -- a tectonic shift in the practice of psychiatry -- but new scientific reviews of the research that fueled the trend suggest that the drugs' benefits have been dramatically oversold. The use of antidepressants among children grew three- to tenfold between 1987 and 1996, data from various studies indicate, and a newer survey found a further 50 percent rise in prescriptions between 1998 and 2002. The explosion in antidepressant use occurred even though the vast majority of clinical trials have failed to prove that...

Pediatricians and family physicians should not prescribe antidepressants for depressed children and adolescents because the drugs barely work and their side effects are often significant, Australian researchers have concluded. The researchers analyzed data from five published trials of three antidepressants, Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil, in depressed patients under age 18. They found that the drugs offered only a "very modest" benefit over placebos. At the same time, the drugs carry significant risks, the researchers said in their report, published in today's issue of the British medical journal BMJ. "If the drugs were highly advantageous over placebo, then you'd live with...

<p>The study examined antidepressant use from 1998 to 2002 among 2 million youngsters ages 18 and younger who were covered by commercial health insurance. About one in 15 children in the United States is covered by commercial insurance, according to officials of Express Scripts Inc. of St. Louis, which conducted the study.</p>

Check your local listings for airtimes. (Current show is updated every weekday at 5pm EST.) HEALTH Health Experts Warn of Antidepressant Dangers for Children, Teens By Darla SittonCBN News Producer In America, Prozac is the only drug the FDA has "approved" for pediatric depression. CBN.com – (CBN News) - As many as one in eight adolescents suffers from clinical depression. And these kids are often treated with anti-depressant drugs that have been tested and approved for adult use. But the drugs may not be safe for children. Corey Baadsgaard doesn't remember storming into his honors English class with a...

Makers of popular antidepressants such as Paxil, Zoloft and Effexor have refused to disclose the details of most clinical trials involving depressed children, denying doctors and parents crucial evidence as they weigh fresh fears that such medicines may cause some children to become suicidal. The companies say the studies are trade secrets. Researchers familiar with the unpublished data said the majority of secret trials show that children taking the medicines did not get any better than children taking dummy pills. Although the drug industry's practice of suppressing data unfavorable to its products is legal, doctors and advocates say such secrecy...

Makers of popular antidepressants such as Paxil, Zoloft and Effexor have refused to disclose the details of most clinical trials involving depressed children, denying doctors and parents crucial evidence as they weigh fresh fears that such medicines may cause some children to become suicidal. The companies say the studies are trade secrets. Researchers familiar with the unpublished data said the majority of secret trials show that children taking the medicines did not get any better than children taking dummy pills. Although the drug industry's practice of suppressing data unfavorable to its products is legal, doctors and advocates say such secrecy...

Adding to the debate over using antidepressant drugs for depressed teenagers and children, a group of prominent researchers issued a report yesterday saying that Zoloft and similar medicines did not increase children's suicide risk. The group, drawn from members of the American College of Neuro- psychopharmacology, also found that the drugs were effective in treating children's depression. "Depression in children and adults is the major illness that underlies suicide, and we believe that the S.S.R.I. class represents the medication with the greatest efficacy against this very serious condition," said Dr. J. John Mann, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University...

<p>Many parents face this quandary: When kids are seriously depressed, are they better off on antidepressants or not?</p> <p>Amid recent concerns that the drugs could increase the suicide risk for kids, parents may find some reassurance in an article in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association. New research reported there showed that the antidepressant Zoloft was modestly more effective than a placebo at easing major depression in children and adolescents, while showing no increase in suicide attempts.</p>