WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Warnings that antidepressant drugs can increase suicidal behavior in some children have caused a near 20 percent drop in U.S. prescriptions of the drugs.
Drugs such Prozac, Paxil and Effexor are under more scrutiny after the FDA linked them to suicidal behavior, a media report said. Now fewer children are being prescribed the drugs, and critics are demanding more research be done.
"The problem is we don't have enough good data," Thomas Laughren, director of the division of psychiatry products at the Food and Drug Administration told The Washington Post. "All of our data are focused on the short term."
The industry-run system of approving antidepressant drugs can sometimes only take 12 weeks. Now FDA officials are considering whether to conduct longer trials.
There are concerns within the drug industry that such a lengthy trial would tie up funds and be too time-consuming.
