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Study: Antidepressants useless for most
Here's a study guaranteed to put almost every drugmaker on the defensive. Researchers analyzed every antidepressant study they could get their hands on--including a bunch of unpublished data obtained via the U.S. Freedom of Information Act--and concluded that, for most patients, SSRI antidepressants are no better than sugar pills. Only the most severely depressed get much real benefit from the drugs, the study found.
That's quite a conclusion, considering that antidepressants are among the world's top-selling meds, accounting for billions in revenues every year. Manufacturers rushed to defend their products, saying that regulators in many countries had reviewed the data and concluded the drugs were effective. GlaxoSmithKline, for instance, said that this new study only looked at "a small subset of the total data available."
But the study didn't come as a surprise to some, including one U.K. expert who's published research showing that drug companies only tend to publish data that shows their products in good light. The new paper, published today in the journal PLoS Medicine, breaks new ground, according to The Guardian, because the researchers got access for the first time to an apparently full set of trial data for four antidepressants: Prozac (fluoxetine), Paxil (paroxetine), Effexor (venlafaxine), and Serzone (nefazodone). And the data said..."the overall effect of new-generation antidepressant medication is below recommended criteria for clinical significance." Ouch.
The study could have a ripple effect, affecting prescribing guidelines and even prompting questions about how drugs are approved. "This study raises serious issues that need to be addressed surrounding drug licensing and how drug trial data is reported," one of the researchers said. In other words, all trial data needs to be made public.
- read the coverage from the BBC
- see this article and column in The Guardian
- see this Q&A about the study in The Telegraph
Related Articles:
Antidepressants--Top 10 Warnings and Recalls of 2007. Report
Positive data more likely to find its way to public. Report
U.K. ratchets up antidepressant warnings. Report
Suicide stats fuel debate over SSRI drugs. Report
Comments
By steve hayes | Posted 10:23am | March 2, 2008
As the director of Novus Medical Detox, I often see patients who are on alcohol or opioids, central nervous system depressants, also taking antidepressants. When they detox they find they don't need the antidepressants.
This is good news because a Swedish study showed that 52% of the 2006 suicides by women on antidepressants. Since antidepressants work no better than placebos and are less effective than exercise in dealing with depression.
There is a prescription drug epidemic and these are leaders in the list of terribe abuses.
Steve Hayes
http://novusdetox.com
By Anonymous | Posted 5:24pm | October 10, 2009
well, you try being severely depressed and getting out of it without drugs. I have fought severe depression for the last 5 years. And during that time, TWO HOURS A DAY on the exercise bike did nothing to put a dent in my depression. Vitamins, therapy, etc. did nothing. I still wanted to die. My primary care doctor finally said "you can't spend the entire day on the exercise bike, you have to try something else". Being so negative about anti-depressants just contributes to the difficulty people have in making the decision to try a life-saving medication. And, I am not a whole-hearted believer in ADs. I am currently on my 6th one. I believe that there is a placebo effect for many people...but they have to have hope for that to work...when you are severely depressed, you have NO hope. Yet, they do work enough to lift severely depressed people out of the depressive episode enough to get back to wanting to be alive. So, the talk about it being a drug people abuse etc. in my view makes people who already have a hard time coping with the stigma of mental illness less likely to consider trying a life saving drug. For that you should be ashamed of yourself.
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