Attorney Menzies calls the FDA's statement that "scientific data does not show an increased risk in adults older than 24, and that adults ages 65 and older taking antidepressants have a decreased risk of suicidality," "extremely misleading."

"Rather than accurately informing the public that suicidality can occur in some people at any age," she notes, "this new warning gives the false perception that certain age groups are entirely safe while others are not. I know for a fact from my review of internal drug company documents that that is not true," she says.

Critics also find this statement disturbing in light of other independent studies, including a study reported in the May 1, 2006, London Free Press, conducted at the Toronto's Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, that identified suicides among older Ontarians, 66 and up, and found that for patients who were prescribed antidepressants in the 6 months before their deaths, the risk of suicide in the first month for those taking SSRIs was nearly 5 times higher than for seniors taking older antidepressants called tricyclics such as Elavil.

Other experts also object to the piecemeal addition of SSRI warnings. "When the FDA ordered a black box warning for only those 18 and under, it defied common sense that as soon as one turned 19, one was safe," says Dr Bruce Levine, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, author of "STAR*D Wars: The Corruption of the National Institute of Mental Health and the Failure of Antidepressants."

"And now that the warning will extend until 24," Dr Levine adds, "it defies common sense that one becomes safe on one's 25th birthday."

"While some people report antidepressants have benefited them," he notes, "legitimate science shows that these antidepressants are no more helpful for depression than a placebo or no treatment at all."

According to a study analyzing clinical trials submitted to the FDA for drug approval, the efficacy data submitted to the FDA for the six most widely prescribed antidepressants approved between 1987 and 1999, "the pharmacological effects of antidepressants are clinically negligible." The Emperor's New Drugs: An Analysis of Antidepressant Medication Data Submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by Irving Kirsch, Thomas J. Moore, Alan Scorboria and Sarah S. Nicholls.

According to Kirsch, "[a]lthough antidepressant medication is widely regarded as efficacious, a recent meta-analysis of published clinical trials indicates that 75 percent of the response to antidepressants is duplicated by placebo." Kirsch & Sapirstein, G. (1998). Listening to Prozac but hearing placebo: A meta analysis of antidepressant medication.

FDA Protects SSRI Makers With Misleading Suicide Warning - 2

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