FDA links drugs to being suicidal

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fda links drugs to being suicidal

top officials of the fda have acknowledged for the first time that antidepressants appear to lead some children and teenagers to become suicidal.

new york times, sept. 14, 2004

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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/14/health/14depress.html?hp

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I wonder how they can tell whether the same kids may have been suicidal anyway. After all, they were depressed enough to be put on antidepressant drugs. Maybe the drugs just didn't help and the depression continued to escalate.

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That's a really tough one. I have a friend whose 10 year old was suicidal. They put him on several different antidepressents, monitored him very closesly because he was a minor, and he's doing great.

Over time they've adjusted and readjusted doses and meds, but they literally saved the kid's life.

The key seems to be extremely close monitoring. For kids, especially, prescribing antidepressants and leaving at that is a bad move. For anybody.

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