AMA report on antidepressants

In a report released at the American Medical Association (AMA) meeting in Chicago, the association said that black box warnings on antidepressants should not be interpreted in a way that would decrease their use in children and adolescents who would benefit from the drugs. In January, FDA added black box warnings to the labels of antidepressants about the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children and adults (see BioCentury Extra, Monday Jan. 3, 2005). AMA said FDA's finding of increased risk could potentially be explained by a higher rate of reporting of suicidal thoughts and attempts, which could have been facilitated by the drugs. The report also noted that an FDA meta-analysis of suicidality among a subset of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) found no link between suicidality and antidepressants as a class. ...