http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/09/24/suicide_rates_as_a_public_relations_tool/
Alison Bass
Suicide rates as a public relations tool
By Alison Bass | September 24, 2007
EARLIER THIS MONTH, major newspapers reported the alarming news that
suicides among young people were on the rise because of a precipitous drop
in the use of antidepressants. This news was based on a study in the
September issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, which concluded that
physicians had been scared away from prescribing antidepressants because of
the Food and Drug Administration's decision in October 2004 to put black box
warnings on the pediatric use of these drugs. The FDA mandated the warnings
after finding an increased risk in suicidal thoughts and behaviors among
adolescents taking antidepressants such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and
Celexa.
In the wake of the study, several psychiatrists called for the black box
warnings to be retracted. "It's time for the agency's warnings to be
modified," opined Dr. David Schaffer, chief of child and adolescent
psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.
News sources have since exposed a big hole in the journal's argument.
Several experts quoted in The New York Times and The Boston Globe pointed
out that while there was indeed an upturn in suicide rates among youths (an
increase of 14 percent, or a total of 252 more deaths among youths under 19
between 2003 and 2004), the number of prescriptions for antidepressants in
the same age group remained basically unchanged between 2003 and 2004.
According to data presented in the American Journal of Psychiatry study,
prescription rates for minors did not drop sharply until a year later
(between 2004 and 2005). Since suicide rates for 2005 are not yet available
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no evidence of
a connection between variations in youth suicide rates and antidepressant
prescription usage. Furthermore, experts say that trends in suicide rates,
like any epidemiological data, have to be looked at over the long term and a
one-year variation in rates could be a statistical artifact, or mean
something else entirely.
So what's going on here? Why are some in the psychiatric community, despite
lack of evidence, working to convince the American public that the FDA may
have erred in putting the most serious kind of warning possible on the use
of these drugs in young people? In May, the FDA, after finding the same
increased risk of suicidal behaviors among young adults taking the class of
antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs),
extended the black box warnings to young adults.
There is no doubt that many psychiatrists believe that antidepressants,
particularly SSRIs like Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, and Celexa, are helpful in
treating depression in adults and adolescents. They have seen how these
drugs have lifted the fog of despair from people with depression.
But there is another factor to consider: Who stands to benefit from the
latest alarm about an apparent upturn in youth suicide rates? The sharp drop
in the sale of SSRIs since 2004 has put a big dent in their manufacturers'
bottom line. These companies have an enormous stake in reversing the current
FDA warnings. That might explain why Pfizer (the maker of Zoloft)
contributed $30,000 to cover the cost of collecting data for the American
Journal of Psychiatry study, which was also funded by the National Institute
of Mental Health. It's also worth noting that the two lead authors of the
paper have disclosed financial conflicts of interest: Columbia professor of
psychiatry Dr. John Mann has been a paid consultant to at least two SSRI
makers, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (the maker of Paxil), and Robert Gibbons
has served as an expert witness for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (the maker of
Effexor, another SSRI).
This isn't the first time that suicide rates have been trotted out as a
public relations weapon. Proponents of psychotropic drugs have long argued
that suicide rates among adults and children fell after the SSRIs were
introduced in the United States. However, an examination of long-term trends
in suicide rates indicate that suicides were declining here and in other
countries well before SSRIs such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil were widely
prescribed, says Julie Zito, associate professor of pharmacy and psychiatry
at the University of Maryland. Zito says there are other plausible reasons
for the decline in suicide rates over the last two decades, including a more
stable economy, better access to mental healthcare, and gun control.
So until new evidence emerges showing, unequivocally, a rising rate of
suicides among our youths and a link between those rates and reduced
antidepressant usage, it would be wise to treat the latest salvo with a
healthy dose of skepticism.
Alison Bass is a former medical writer for the Globe and author of the
upcoming book "Side Effects: A Best-selling Drug on Trial."
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
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