Wednesday, September 15, 2004

NAMI testimony to the FDA
At the NAMI web site, the " Statement of Kenneth Duckworth, M.D. On Behalf of NAMI (The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) Before the Food and Drug Administration Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Pediatric Subcommittee of the Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee."  
  

Panel urges suicide warnings on 9 drugs
Boston Globe story - "Nine antidepressants should carry the government's strongest warning that they can cause suicidal thoughts and self-injurious behavior in children under 18, a panel of medical advisers told the US Food and Drug Administration yesterday. Research presented during a two-day hearing indicated that the drugs, including Prozac and other newer generation antidepressants, can cause suicidal thoughts or attempts in 2 to 3 percent of children who take them. Between 1 million and 2 million children take antidepressants, and the number is increasing, according to Julie Magno Zito, associate professor of pharmacy and psychiatry at the University of Maryland in Baltimore who studies drug use in children. While concerned about discouraging patients from taking drugs that can help relieve depression, panel members said it was important that families be aware of the serious but small risk. The panel voted 15 to 8 to add a ''black box' warning to the information sheets that drug companies package with the pills."