Posted August 8, 2011 by Jennifer Walker-Journey
According to a recent study, nearly 75 percent of all antidepressants were prescribed to patients without
documented psychiatric conditions by non-psychiatrists in 2007, raising a host of concerns including the potential for patients to suffer serious side effects from the drugs that could put their unborn children at risk.
The study, which was published in the Health Affairs journal, was co-authored by Mark Olfson, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University. The results were reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Antidepressants were the second-most widely prescribed class of drugs in 2010, second only to cholesterol-lowering statins. Zoloft or a generic version of the drug known as sertraline was the most prescribed antidepressant with 36 million prescriptions written in 2010.
Zoloft is in a class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat depression, anxiety disorders and some personality disorders. Other drugs in the class include Paxil, Celexa, Lexapro, and Prozac.
A 2010 meta-analysis of SSRIs found that the drugs worked best for patients with severe depression. Patients with mild or moderate symptoms may receive little or no benefit from the medication. Yet, taking SSRIs put users at risk for side effects that include nausea and vomiting, headache, strange dreams, changes in appetite and weight, changes in sexual behavior, increased feelings of depression and anxiety which may provoke panic attacks, and suicidal ideation.
The drugs also put expectant mothers at risk for delivering a baby with serious birth defects. SSRIs cross the placenta and have been associated with congenital malformations, in particular septal defects. Some evidence suggests that SSRIs are linked to neonatal abstinence syndrome and persistent pulmonary hypertension.
All SSRIs except Paxil are listed as Pregnancy Category C drugs, meaning that risk cannot be ruled out because adequate, well-controlled human studies are lacking and animal studies may or may not have shown a risk to the fetus. Paxil was recent downgraded from a Category C to a Category D drug, indicating that there is positive evidence of risk to fetuses.
Paxil Birth Defects : Paxil Lawsuit : Paxil Settlements
Lexapro Birth Defects : Lexapro Lawsuit : Lexapro Settlements
Celexa Birth Defects : Celexa Lawsuit : Celexa Settlements
