All The Depression News That's Fit To Link

I am taking things rather light today because I was working my butt off yesterday on the other project, code-named "The Other Project." But there is loads of news on the depression front, so herewith is your official depression round-up, including some actual big-time news.

The FDA released a report this week on suicides and suicidality connected to the use of anti-depressants. It concludes that anti-depressants present no risks for people older than 25, but that they present a greater risk for people younger than 25 (press account here). This has got to be the largest pooling of data on the matter ever by the FDA, as it incorporates 100,000 people who were in various clinical trials. The FDA is holding a hearing on December 13 to assess whether to place a black-box warning for suicidality in adults on prescriptions of anti-depressants. The warnings already exist for use in teens and children. This little back-and-forth has been going on for a decade, and I think it's time for the FDA to actually do its job and go for the warning. And, if they need me to fly in and shoot off my mouth, no problem. BTW, the agency chose to redact several pages of data in the public version of the report. That's bullshit and I hope there are reporters filing FOIAs over that.

The riskier in younger people conclusion, however, flies in the face of this study in last month's American Journal of Psychiatry, which found that suicides decreased among 5 to 14 year olds taking SSRIs versus those not taking the anti-depressants. Funny thing, though, is that that group is the second smallest suicide cohort of all (0 to 4 year olds are the smallest for obvious reasons), so it's not the most compelling study on the planet (editorial on the study). Besides, there probably weren't too many 5 to 14 year olds in the FDA's data pool. And just for fun, let me link once again to this study conducted right here in Rain City, which concluded that there is no increased risk of suicide with SSRI use.

The whole thing is an endless debate and that's why the FDA should step up and slap on the warning label. It's not like black-box warnings have hurt sales of atypicals. And, the FDA is supposed to be protecting the public's interests not the marketing campaigns of pharma companies.

In other news, postpartum depression is found to be more prevalent in mothers than previously thought. That's not good at all, but I get a little tired of researchers describing increased rates of this-and-that as a "public health problem" and an "epidemic." Those are scary words, typically used to pimp for more researcher money. And, no, I am not being mean to moms here, especially since the confounding fact is that there is now--or should I say, once again?--a group of obstetricians saying women should avoid Paxil before and during pregnancy due to risks of birth defects. So if postpartum depression is a "public health problem," then Paxil and pregnancy would be a public health epidemic. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Speaking of Paxil: more Paxil lawsuits. Wonder if the FDA is paying attention.

And, let's not forget: Lexapro is better than Cymbalta. I'm sure Andrew Solomon is smiling somewhere. A skeptical take on the Forest Labs sponsored study by CL Psych here.