July 10, 2008
Breaking: FDA Committee Rejects Suicide Warning For Bipolar, Epilepsy Meds
In an unusual move, the FDA's psychopharmacological advisory committee denied the FDA's request to have a black box warning added to labels of various anti-seizure drugs that are used to treat millions of Americans with bipolar disorder or epilepsy. I'm not sure what the committee's rationale was and how their finding serves the patients and doctors they are supposed to represent.
More on this later.
Posted by Philip Dawdy at July 10, 2008 04:11 PM
del.icio.us
Digg it
reddit
I read that the committee was concerned that the warnings could stop doctors from prescribing the drugs. Or scare patients from taking them. No joke. "We don't want to strongly advise you about the possible problems with this drug because you might not take it..." Gee, thanks, Big Brother!
We're not talking about getting a headache or feeling nauseous here. We're talking about wanting to take one's life. Breathtaking decision when you consider the analysis behind it.
