Suicide Risk to Children Affirmed

"Before he took these drugs he was a gentle, lovable kid who never hurt himself or any other person," said Laguerre, who did not want to give his son's name or details of his violent acts because he has not yet stood trial. "The FDA needs to step up and protect the consumer and crack down on these drug companies before more lives are lost."

But drug companies and some doctors stressed the importance of keeping the medicines available for treating children.

Dr. David Fassler, testifying on behalf of the American Psychiatric Assn., said each of the antidepressants was effective for some young patients.

"Most clinicians believe, and I would concur, that for children and adolescents who suffer from depression, the potential benefit from these medicines far outweighs the risk," said Fassler, whose organization represents more than 35,000 psychiatrists.

Representatives from the drug companies did not agree on whether the FDA should consider the drugs individually or as a class, taking the same action toward all of them.

Dr. Steven Romano of Pfizer Inc. urged the panel, when it decides what regulatory action to take against an individual drug, to consider suicidal behavior more seriously than suicidal thought.

In the data analyzed by Columbia and the FDA, his company's product, Zoloft (sertraline hydrochloride), was linked to more instances of serious suicidal thought than suicidal behavior.

The risk or benefit of antidepressant use "should be assessed on an individual product basis," he said.

But Dr. Joseph Camardo of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals argued that the data were not detailed enough to justify treating any antidepressant differently from another. He urged the agency to change the labeling requirements for all of the drugs.

"The information should be consistent for all of the antidepressants," he said.

Of all the drugs studied, patients taking his company's product, Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride), had the highest ratio of serious suicidal behavior or thought compared with patients taking placebos in the clinical trials.