BMJ  2007;335:531 (15 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.39334.760174.BE

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Teen suicide rate rises as prescribing of SSRIs falls, study finds

London

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

"Black box" labels ordered by the US Food and Drug Administration that warn of a greater risk of suicide from certain types of antidepressants may have had an effect opposite to that intended, says new research.

Comparing numbers of prescriptions of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and reported suicides in the United States and the Netherlands, the researchers found that the rate of suicides among children and adolescents rose as numbers of prescriptions of SSRIs fell in 2003-4 (American Journal of Psychiatry 2007;164:1356-63 doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2007.07030454).

Numbers of suicides among Americans aged under 19 years rose by 14% from 2003 to 2004, the study says, the biggest annual increase since systematic recording began in 1979. The same year saw a 22% decrease in the number of SSRI prescriptions to this age group.

In the Netherlands the number of prescriptions of SSRIs fell just as fast, while the country experienced . . . [Full text of this article]

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Rapid Responses:

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Black box behaviours

Christopher L Manning
bmj.com, 17 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Very interesting study

AK Al-Sheikhli
bmj.com, 19 Sep 2007 [Full text]