Doctors
will be required to warn all patients under 30 of the suicide risk posed
by the antidepressant Seroxat following an investigation into the drug by
a European medical agency, it emerged today.
The recommendation is expected to become law throughout the European
Union (EU) in the autumn once the findings of the investigation are
ratified by the European Commission.
The move responds to warnings about Seroxat made by the European Agency
for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA), which licenses drugs for
use in the EU, in April.
The EMEA recommends that the antidepressant should be prescribed with
extra caution to those aged between 18 and 29. It states that the drug can
lead to an increased risk of "suicide-related behaviour in young adults",
and calls for patients to be "monitored closely throughout treatment".
A significant number of patients prescribed Seroxat are under 30,
according to the drug's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline.
The EMEA guidelines echo earlier warnings about the withdrawal symptoms
experienced by patients on Seroxat, and backs the ban on prescribing the
drug to those under 18, which came into force in the UK last year.
Mental health charity Mind called on the UK Medicines and Healthcare
Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to order family doctors to warn all their
depressed patients about the EMEA's findings immediately.
A Mind spokeswoman said: "The European ruling on Seroxat makes it very
clear that the very real problems with this drug potentially go far beyond
the groups already acknowledged to be at risk.
"When there are up to 800,000 people currently taking Seroxat in the
UK, there is an urgent need for these risks to be made plainly known, and
for GPs to be very aware of potential problems when they hand out
prescriptions."
The MHRA launched its own investigation into Seroxat and other similar
medicines, known selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, including
Prozac, last year, but has yet to report its findings.
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