Pharma companies deny blame for rise in children being given anti-depressants

Increases in anti-depressant usage by children have come about because of the decisions of the general practitioners (GPs) and other health professionals prescribing them, pharma companies have said.

Claims have been made in a British Medical Journal article that the risk of suicide and aggressive behavior is doubled among children and adolescents taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs).

The article cites a study suggesting that the potential harm of these drugs, including duloxetine (Cymbalta), fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), sertraline (Zoloft) and venlafaxine (Effexor), has not been properly explored.

Some of the companies which sell them have told The Pharma Letter that the reported rise in children and young people taking anti-depressants is not down to them, and emphasized that they provide the drugs with extensive guidelines and never advocate prescribing them off-label.