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Guest
In article <[email protected]>, Rich Winkel says...
>
>Giving antidepressants to children may not work, FDA says
>
>By Chris Adams and Alison Young
>Knight Ridder Newspapers
>
>WASHINGTON - As U.S. regulators debate whether a popular class of
>antidepressant drugs causes suicidal behavior in children, their review is
>also raising questions about whether the drugs are effective.
>
>The use of antidepressants to treat depression or other conditions, such as
>attention-deficit disorder, in children is growing rapidly even though there
>are few credible studies showing that they work.
>
>The drugs under review by the Food and Drug Administration include such
>blockbusters as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft as well as other antidepressants.
>The drugs are generally approved for treating depression and many other
>conditions in adults.
>
>The FDA-approved uses in children, however, are far more limited. Only
>Prozac is approved for major childhood depression and obsessive-compulsive
>disorder, and Zoloft and Luvox are approved for obsessive-compulsive
>disorder in children.
>
>Doctors, however, are free to prescribe a drug approved for one condition -
>say, depression in adults - to any patient, of any age, for any condition.
>
>Such off-label prescribing is common. In the treatment of depression, it's
>fueled by doctors' belief that if the drugs help adults they should also
>help children. Further, insurers often won't pay for psychotherapy for
>depressed children but will pay for drug therapy.
>
>The FDA said that in 2002 nearly 11 million prescriptions for the
>antidepressants were written for children, spread among several different
>diagnoses including depression, attention-deficit disorder, anxiety and
>obsessive-compulsive disorder.
>
>According to a January FDA memo, drug makers have submitted 15 studies
>designed to test the effectiveness of these drugs in treating depression in
>children. Three came back positive, two were statistically inconclusive, and
>10 were negative.
>
>"These are sobering findings and certainly raise a question about the
>benefits of these drugs in pediatric depression," the FDA's Dr. Thomas
>Laughren wrote in the memo. "The overall success rate for positive
>studies... is clearly a concern."
>
>rest of article at
>http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/7949704.htm
>
>Giving antidepressants to children may not work, FDA says
>
>By Chris Adams and Alison Young
>Knight Ridder Newspapers
>
>WASHINGTON - As U.S. regulators debate whether a popular class of
>antidepressant drugs causes suicidal behavior in children, their review is
>also raising questions about whether the drugs are effective.
>
>The use of antidepressants to treat depression or other conditions, such as
>attention-deficit disorder, in children is growing rapidly even though there
>are few credible studies showing that they work.
>
>The drugs under review by the Food and Drug Administration include such
>blockbusters as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft as well as other antidepressants.
>The drugs are generally approved for treating depression and many other
>conditions in adults.
>
>The FDA-approved uses in children, however, are far more limited. Only
>Prozac is approved for major childhood depression and obsessive-compulsive
>disorder, and Zoloft and Luvox are approved for obsessive-compulsive
>disorder in children.
>
>Doctors, however, are free to prescribe a drug approved for one condition -
>say, depression in adults - to any patient, of any age, for any condition.
>
>Such off-label prescribing is common. In the treatment of depression, it's
>fueled by doctors' belief that if the drugs help adults they should also
>help children. Further, insurers often won't pay for psychotherapy for
>depressed children but will pay for drug therapy.
>
>The FDA said that in 2002 nearly 11 million prescriptions for the
>antidepressants were written for children, spread among several different
>diagnoses including depression, attention-deficit disorder, anxiety and
>obsessive-compulsive disorder.
>
>According to a January FDA memo, drug makers have submitted 15 studies
>designed to test the effectiveness of these drugs in treating depression in
>children. Three came back positive, two were statistically inconclusive, and
>10 were negative.
>
>"These are sobering findings and certainly raise a question about the
>benefits of these drugs in pediatric depression," the FDA's Dr. Thomas
>Laughren wrote in the memo. "The overall success rate for positive
>studies... is clearly a concern."
>
>rest of article at
>http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/7949704.htm