Originally published September 8 2005
Inquiry finds drug company withheld information linking antidepressants to suicidal tendencies
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
An 18-month inquiry by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA) turned up evidence that British company GlaxoSmithKline failed to provide initial findings about their Seroxat antidepressant which linked its use to suicidal tendencies, the Guardian reports.
Commonly used modern antidepressants can cause adults as well as children to attempt suicide, a new study says.
An 18-month inquiry convened by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA) in the UK banned the use of the drugs, known as the SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) in children and adolescents.
Last December it said the drugs were over-prescribed though they could safely be used by adults.
But a study published today in the online journal BMC Medicine casts doubt on the MHRA's findings.
One of the manufacturers, the British company GlaxoSmithKline, which makes the bestselling Seroxat, did not submit its original detailed data from clinical trials of the drug to the regulator, said the Norwegian author of the report, Ivar Aursnes.
They make "a strong case for a conclusion, at least with a short time perspective, of an increased risk of suicidal attempts in adults taking antidepressants".
When the MHRA asked for data on suicides from GlaxoSmithKline, what they received "was not the original science".
The drugs company, he said, provided a summary which added together suicide attempts and reports of patients feeling suicidal.
"I think the UK investigation could have been even more thoroughly done if they had looked through the primary data," he said.
He had attempted to alert the MHRA to his findings, he said.
Dr Aursnes embarked on further analysis after studies in the British Medical Journal in February appeared to give the drugs a clean bill of health in adults.
The authors found there was an increased frequency of suicide attempts by people on the drugs, but that it was not statistically significant.
GlaxoSmithKline said all its own extensive research into the safety of Seroxat - known also by the generic name paroxetine - confirmed its safety.
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