FDA kept suicide findings secret

ajc.com ^ | 04/06/04 | ELIZABETH SHOGREN

[Nov3]

WASHINGTON -- Ten months ago, when concerns arose about a possible link between children taking antidepressant drugs and suicide attempts, senior officials at the Food and Drug Administration ordered their leading expert to head up an examination of the evidence.

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When the government scientist filed his report last winter, however, his bosses decided to keep it secret — even though it found that children who took the drugs were twice as likely to be involved in serious suicide-related behavior as those who did not.

Instead of revealing the findings, senior FDA officials ordered more studies, which are not expected to be completed until summer. They also squelched plans to have the author, Dr. Andrew Mosholder, present his conclusions to an FDA advisory committee when it took up the issue in February.

Mosholder's report still has not been made public, but news of his conclusions first surfaced in a CBS News report last week. His findings were detailed in an internal FDA document obtained by The Los Angeles Times and authenticated by government officials.

In March, when the agency issued a warning about the possibility of problems for young patients taking the drugs, FDA officials said no conclusive scientific evidence existed on the link between antidepressants and potentially suicidal behavior by children. Officials said they based their action on anecdotal complaints from physicians and families that had been presented to the advisory committee.

They gave no hint that their own chief expert on the subject had examined the results of more than two dozen clinical trials conducted by antidepressant manufacturers and had found an unusually high correlation between their use by young patients and potentially suicidal behavior.

[amom]

From that same website....
NBC NEWS
July 11 - The questions began with the confession of an insider at one of the nation's largest pharmaceutical firms. He says his former company deliberately distorted information about one of its drugs, possibly putting lives at risk and costing patients and taxpayers millions of dollars. "Dateline" went looking for some answers and has the results of a year-long investigation into what may be one of the biggest medical deceptions in history. NBC's John Hockenberry reports...more

[RonHolzwarth]

reply to: "I was placed on prozac and lithium about 18 years ago for depression,"

???

Prozac was approved by the FDA in Dec '87. 18 years later, would be late in the year 2005.

However, you did say "about 18 years ago", you must have been among the very first patients to get a prescription for it.

[Nov3]

Yes See post 17!

[RonHolzwarth]

Yup, cyclamate was the sweetener in Tab. Also the sweetener in Fizzies!

I liked Fizzies a lot! Tab, I could do without.

[Nov3]

Link please? It sounds interesting.

[MHGinTN]

Incidentally, we use Splenda around ehre ... we've found that a pinch of sugar with the Splenda makes it impossible to tell the diff in big pitchers of Iced Tea.

[RonHolzwarth]

THE STORY BEHIND PROZAC...
the KILLER DRUG:

http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/newsl/prozac.html

[Nov3]

We love splenda. Much better than Cyclamates which were worlds better than Nutrasweet (can you say headache!) and saccharin (Yeeeeecccch!). The Cyclamates the best of their day and you could could cook with them.

[harrowup]

Sure you didn't mean Searle?

[Nov3]

Douglass Kennedy (FOX) has owned this story in the national press. Still his stories haven't scratched the surface of the truth.

[MHGinTN]

I was working for Searle at the time; I know Aldactizide was a Searle product; I started the 'Star Mint Peppermint' promotion for docs offices. Okay?.

[In_25_words_or_less]

This says it all. These people are completely bought out. They want their cushy consulting jobs when they "retire" and will turn a blind eye even if it means your childrens lives.

What do you mean "blind eye"? They are on a tireless crusade to separate us from our dangerous vitamins and herb teas.

[nmh]

Words fail me on this situation. The girl is totally screwed up. And of course she now wants to pursue the arts and be an artist so she can express her thoughts. NExt a lesbian will probably seduce her into that lifestyle choice. It's sad and it's sick.

[Nov3]

They are on a tireless crusade to separate us from our dangerous vitamins and herb teas.

LOL

[nmh]

I've bookmarked that for a close read.

THanks!

[junaid]

I don't know what the new hype is about. In medical school we were told that giving a severely depressed patient an anti-depressant may cause them to commit suicide. The theory was that these patients had suicidal thoughts, but did not act on them secondary to the lack of energy that accompanies depression. By giving the antidepressant, that lack of energy goes away, but the suicidal thoughts may not have gone away. This leads to the suicide attempts.

I thought all this recent news was a rehash of what was already out there.

[amom]

I've bookmarked that for a close read.

Welcome. Me too.

[amom]

Link please? It sounds interesting.

Sorry for the lag. Let me see if I can find it again. It was from that site I posted a link to in post 17. Here it is. http://www.prozactruth.com/article_drug_giant_accused.htm

[shield]

Geeezzzz!!! These b*st*rd's have know about this for a very long time. The cover-up as been going on for a very long time. Guess they couldn't hide it any longer. It's not just kids. These drugs cause adults to kill their whole families. Andrea Yates was one of them. These drug companies have had to pay huge settlements over these drugs. When they pay these claims (out of court settlements), the settlements' conditions are secrecy. That's why no one knows about them.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

And you thought the FDA was there to protect you.