In Spite of Numerous Warnings, Antidepressant Usage Escalates 2011-11-10 The Center
for Disease Control (CDC) research featured the increasing use of
antidepressants, as published on the website Psychiatric Times. The author
considered this data disturbing because of the several warnings and reviews on
antidepressants like Zoloft.
Zoloft is a medication for major depression (MDD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety disorder, premenstrual dyphoric disorder (PMDD), panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Despite the warnings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), medical researchers and medical institutions, a 400 percent increase in usage over the past 15 years was noted by CDC. This means that at present, 11 percent of the American population is taking one or more antidepressants. In 2006, the FDA issued a warning about the probable Zoloft-attributed birth defects, including miscarriage, withdrawal symptoms, clubbed foot, cleft lip or palate, delayed development, persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), gastrochisis, enlarged heart, septal heart defects, left outflow tract heart defects, macroephaly, craniosyntosis, neural tube defects and spina bifida. The public health advisory stated that the FDA is advising health care professionals to discuss the potential risk of birth defects with patients who are taking Zoloft and who plan to become pregnant or are in their first three months of pregnancy. Health care professionals should consider discontinuing Zoloft (and switching to another antidepressant if indicated) in these patients. In some patients, the benefits of continuing Zoloft may be greater than the potential risk to the fetus. FDA is advising health care professionals to avoid prescribing Zoloft in women who are in the first three months of pregnancy or who are planning pregnancy, unless other treatment options are not appropriate. Analyzing results from 372 studies regarding antidepressants, the FDA found that these drugs could make children and teenagers irrational, hostile, violent and suicidal. In 2007, the FDA further issued Zoloft warnings on the drug%u2019s risk of increased suicidal attempts and behaviors. The FDA directed antidepressant manufacturing companies to place a %u201Cbalck box%u201D warning to the drug. Black box warnings are placed if the drug carries risk of a permanently-disabling, life threatening, or fatal side effect. In 2008, the New England Journal of Medicine published a research study reflecting that antidepressant effectiveness has been misrepresented in US publications. It presented that studies reflecting antidepressant ineffectiveness were not normally published or were published with ambiguous results.
The July
2011 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry reflected the link between the use
of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) to newborns with autism
spectrum disorder (ASD). This was featured on the website PRWeb on Novemeber 9,
2011. Aside from these warnings and reviews, medical reports from patients also present various complaints about the harmful side effects. This incited them to file Zoloft lawsuit against its manufacturer, Pfizer. References: depression.emedtv.com/zoloft/zoloft-warnings-and-precautions.html prweb.com/releases/2011/11/prweb8817963.htm 0 Responses to "In Spite of Numerous Warnings, Antidepressant Usage Escalates"Leave a reply | Archive
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