Further concerns about antidepressant

And the saga of paroxetine continues...

You may have read my experiences of taking this SSRI antidepressant (or rather my experiences of trying to stop taking this SSRI) elsewhere on this site - and today more concerns about the safety of paroxetine (known commercially as Seroxat in the UK, Paxil in the US) have come to light.

Last year the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) banned the prescribing of paroxetine to adolescents due to an increased risk of suicidal thoughts. However, they concluded that the modest increase in suicidal thoughts among adult users of paroxetine and SSRIs in general was outweighed by the reported benefits.

Scientists from the University of Oslo have now said that existing studies indicate that this ban should also be extended to adults.

The Norwegians conducted an analysis of 16 trials involving the drug in 1989. In these trials, 916 subjects were given paroxetine and 550 were put on a course of placebos. Seven patients in the paroxetine group attempted suicide during the trial while only one from the placebo group attempted to take their own life.

This is not conclusive evidence but it is merely the latest in a continuous stream of empirical data regarding the negative side effects of this drug.

See the following links for more information:

• BMC Psychiatry - the Biomed Central journal that published the University of Oslo's findings
• Drug 'can trigger suicide in adults' - news item on these latest findings from The Guardian
• MIND - UK mental health charity who have collected much anecdotal information from users of paroxetine
• BBC Panorama - the BBC current affairs programme has reported extensively on the claims against paroxetine and has collated much useful information on its website
• Drugs Are Bad [Part 1] [Part 2] - my own experiences of paroxetine