Concerns rise over antidepressant suicide risk

A new study has raised further concerns about possible suicide risks associated with one of the UK’s most widely prescribed anti-depressants.

A team of researchers at the University of Oslo studied the results of 16 trials involving the drug Seroxat, also known as paroxetine, which is one of a group of drugs known as SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitors).

The research, published in the Biomed Central journal, involved tests on almost 1,500 patients – 916 were given paroxetine and 550 were given placebos (dummy pills).

The team found that there were seven suicide attempts in the group taking the paroxetine, compared to only one attempt in the placebo group.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said that Seroxat should not be given to under-eighteens due to an increased risk of suicidal thoughts, last year.

The Norwegian researchers warned that the increased suicidal behaviour seen in adolescents and children taking certain anti-depressants could be seen in adults as well. The report said: “The recommendation of restrictions in the use of paroxetine in children and adolescents conveyed by regulatory agencies lately should include usage in adults.”

However, although the MHRA said that the risk of increased suicidal thoughts while using SSRIs could not be ruled out, it said that the benefits of using the drugs outweighed the risks.

The makers of Seroxat, GlaxoSmithKline, said that the drug had helped millions of people and also claimed that their own research showed that the benefits of the drug outweighed the risks.

However, mental health charity Mind said that research it conducted into Seroxat use indicated that half of the users had experienced feelings of wanting to self-harm or commit suicide. Fifty-eight per cent of these people had not experienced these feelings before using Seroxat, the charity claimed.

Sophie Corlett, policy director of Mind, said: “This study would seem to be an extremely worrying addition to growing evidence raising serious concerns over the safety of Seroxat. It confirms what Mind service users have long been telling us anecdotally, information that has led us to campaign strongly on the issue for a number of years.

“By ignoring what mental health service users themselves have said about the medication and its effects, the drugs regulators may well have caused lives to be lost.”

(KMcA/SP)