Do selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors cause suicide?: Antidepressant prescribing to children and adolescents by GPs has fallen since CSM advice

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7500.1151

BMJ 2005;330:1151 (14 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7500.1151

Letter

Do selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors cause suicide?

Antidepressant prescribing to children and adolescents by GPs has fallen since CSM advice

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

EDITOR—The decline in routine prescribing of antidepressantsin children and adolescents expected by Cipriani et al has alreadystarted.¹ We analysed antidepressant prescribing by generalpractitioners between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2004 usingthe IMS Disease Analyzer-Mediplus database to examine the effectsof the UK Committee on Safety of Medicines' advice on antidepressantprevalence.^2
3

Antidepressant use increased between 2000 and 2002 (5.4 per1000 to 6.6/1000); the prescription of selective serotonin reuptakeinhibitors (SSRIs) and venlafaxine rose. Between 2002 and 2004antidepressant prevalence decreased (6.6/1000 to 5.7/1000).The use of the withdrawn antidepressants (citalopram, escitalopram,fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, and venlafaxine) droppedby a third (3.1/1000 v 2.0/1000), but there was no change influoxetine prevalence (2.1/1000 v 2.3/1000). The use of tricyclicantidepressants declined (2.0/1000 v 1.7/1000; P = 0.03).

Since 2003 fewer children and adolescents have been prescribedantidepressants in primary care, particularly the withdrawn. . . [Full text of this article]

Macey L Murray, research fellow in paediatric drug safety

macey.murray@ulsop.ac.uk
Centre for Paediatric Pharmacy Research, the School of Pharmacy, University of London, WC1N 1AX, and the Institute of Child Health, University College London, WC1N 1EH

Ian C K Wong, director

Centre for Paediatric Pharmacy Research, the School of Pharmacy, University of London, WC1N 1AX, and the Institute of Child Health, University College London, WC1N 1EH

Mary Thompson, manager

Disease Analyzer Centre of Excellence, IMS Health, Pinner HA5 5HQ