When TV damned the drug regulators

doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7470.865

BMJ 2004;329:865 (9 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7470.865

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PERSONAL VIEW

When TV damned the drug regulators

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

On Sunday 3 October the BBC screened its third Panorama documentaryabout the antidepressant paroxetine (Seroxat). This was stronglycritical of the work of the British regulatory body responsiblefor medicines, the Medicines and Healthcare products RegulatoryAgency (MHRA). A multitude of plausible sounding experts andcommentators had been assembled to impart some clear messages—thereare big problems with paroxetine and the regulators have messedup big time. The programme claimed that the MHRA had overlookedvital information about paroxetine that suggested it could increasesuicidal feelings in all age groups. Richard Brook, the chiefexecutive of the charity MIND, stated on the Panorama websitethat the agency was "either guilty of extreme negligence orworse dishonesty" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/default.stm).That is a serious accusation and, if the thrust of this programmeis correct, we should all be worried about the medicines weprescribe, recommend, or take.

To be . . . [Full text of this article]

Patrick Waller, consultant in pharmacoepidemiology

Southampton patrick.waller@btinternet.com

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