As the Food and Drug Administration investigates whether
antidepressants known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
are linked to increased suicidal thoughts, an estimated 1 million
American children are taking such drugs, a 50 percent increase since
1999. The biggest jump is among preschoolers, according to one study.
None of this is a surprise to David Healy, a psychopharmacologist
at the University of Wales College of Medicine in the U.K., who has
argued for years that SSRI usage is far too cavalier, especially when
prescribed to children. In his new book, Let Them Eat Prozac, Healy
confirms his status as one longtime thorn in the side of big drug
companies, recounting how he was initially enthusiastic about SSRIs but
eventually grew concerned about their side effects. Although he still
prescribes the drugs to adult patients, Healy believes far more caution
is called for when medicating kids. “Children can be anxious and
distressed, but serious depression is rare,” he says.
Healy lays blame firmly at the feet of the pharmaceutical industry,
which, he says, should make all of their clinical trial data
public.
Other researchers demur, arguing that kids’ use of
antidepressants is not a looming crisis. Harold Koplewicz, a psychiatrist
at New York University’s Child Study Center, says the problem lies
not with the drug companies or the drugs themselves. “There are
simply not enough trained professionals diagnosing [depression],”
says Koplewicz. Doctors who prescribe SSRIs, he says, must also make sure
they closely monitor those patients, a tall order in today’s
managed-care society.
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