Lilly under fire for Prozac "suicide cover-up," newspaper charges

Internal documents, as well as government applications and patents,indicate that Eli Lilly has known since the mid-1980s that its blockbuster antidepressant Prozac (fluoxetine) could cause suicidal reactions in a small but significant number of patients, reports the Boston Globe.

The documents show that, in 1990, Lilly scientists were pressured by corporate executives to change patient records on physician experiences with Prozac, deleting any reference to suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts. The terms "overdose" and "depression" were used instead, the paper reported. Earlier documents from 1984 show that 1 in 100 previously non-suicidal patients who took the drug in early clinical trials developed akathisia, a severe form of anxiety and agitation that caused them to attempt or commit suicide during the studies. Akathisia is listed in Lilly's US product literature as an infrequent event in Prozac users, but no mention is made of the potential link to suicide, according to the Globe.

The company has also aggressively sought to discredit researchers who have published data linking Prozac to suicide, the paper charges. Company pressure forced Martin Teicher of Harvard Medical School to back away from several papers he wrote during the early 1990s showing that Prozac patients were more likely to become suicidal, the Globe said, noting that the US Food and Drug Administration had come to similar conclusions. The Globe quoted David Healy of the University of Wales as saying that "probably 50,000 people have committed suicide on Prozac since its launch, over and above the number who would have done so if left untreated." In June, Dr Healy will publish new research from a study in which antidepressants were administered to healthy individuals in order to determine possible links to suicide.