WASHINGTON - Parents who blame popular adult antidepressants for their children's suicides faced families who credit the pills with saving their youngsters as the government opened an emotional public debate yesterday on the drugs' risks.
British health authorities sounded an alarm last year, saying long-suppressed research suggests certain antidepressants might sometimes increase the risk of suicidal behavior in children and teenagers. Because only one drug, Prozac, has been proven to alleviate pediatric depression, Britain declared other drugs called SSRIs and their close relatives unsuitable for children.
Now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is wrestling with whether the suicide risk is real, and if so, what to do. It is a difficult decision because depression itself can lead to suicide.
Among 25 studies of the suspect medications involving 4,000 young people, there were no completed suicides. But 109 patients experienced one or more possibly suicide-related behaviors or attempts, FDA medical reviewer Dr. Thomas Laughren said yesterday.
The problem, he said, is that studies varied dramatically in what was considered suicidal behavior. Among 19 patients classified as cutting themselves, for instance, almost all were superficial with little bleeding.
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