• Defective Drug Side Effects

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A recent study of antidepressant use shows that there has been a remarkable drop in use by children. The high profile cases and US Food and Drug Administration warnings have been seen as effectively slowing down the dangerous drug''s prescription rates in young people. Antidepressants in young people can cause serious suicidal thoughts and actions and have been linked to several actual cases of suicide.

The FDA issued the “black-box” warnings in March of 2005. Black Boxed warnings are the most serious warning a drug can get and such warnings are placed in a thickly lined black box on drug information pamphlets distributed with the drugs. Children had been found to have a 2 out of 100 incidence of suicidal ideation from taking the antidepressants.

Since the warnings were issued there has been a 25% decrease in antidepressant prescriptions in children.

In addition to the suicidal side effects of antidepressants the drugs'' effectiveness in actually treating depression has also come under fire as of late. During studies in the early 2000s the actual rate of cessation of depression was found to be only slightly higher than that of a placebo. Irving Kirsch, a psychologist affiliated with the University of Connecticut found that there was no meaningful clinical data that showed the effectiveness of antidepressants. Out of 47 studies that the FDA used for approving the drugs, there was only an 18% change between the drugs and placebos, statistically unremarkable.

Whether or not the drop in antidepressant prescriptions among young people will result in either an increase or decrease in the suicide rate remains to be seen.