Another Anti-depressant drug linked to suicides

Via the Earth Times

The BBC will be airing an expose in which various officials at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have expressed concerns about the usage of the company's anti-depressant drug Seroxat, which the officials feared could lead to suicides among teenagers.

GSK was forced to reveal its confidential internal archives after many families in the US had sued the company over the death of their children due to consuming the drug. Karen Barth Menzies, whose firm represents one of the families, said that GSK continued to say that the drug was safe for children even when results proved the contrary.

"Even when they have negative studies that show that this drug Seroxat is going to harm some kids they still spin that study as remarkably effective and safe for children", she said.

GSK conducted the biggest clinical trial of the drug, known as Study 329, in the US during the 1990s and invited child psychiatrist Dr Neal Ryan of the University of Pittsburgh to be the study's co-author.

During a lecture about childhood depression at a medical conference sponsored by GSK in 2002, Dr Ryan praised Seroxat saying that the drug can be safely used among children and in reality it reduced the number of suicides instead of increasing it.

When Panorama reporter Shelley Jofre searched the confidential archives, she was shocked to find many of the letters that she had sent to Dr Ryan asking about the safety of the drug among children. Dr Ryan had simply forwarded the mails to GSK officials asking for suggestions for the replies.

Jofre also found an email in which a public relations executive for GSK clearly said that the drug was not effective among children. "Originally we had planned to do extensive media relations surrounding this study until we actually viewed the results. Essentially the study did not really show it was effective in treating adolescent depression, which is not something we want to publicize", the email read.

Meanwhile a spokesman for GSK said that his company denies of any wrongdoing. "We are extremely concerned that Panorama will again, through a misleading and deliberately provocative commentary, alarm patients about using their anti-depressant medication, with potentially serious consequences. GSK utterly rejects any suggestion that it has improperly withheld drug trial information", he said.