Suicidal Thoughts

Two citizens groups today asked the Bucks County coroner to reopen an investigation into the death of political activist Abbie Hoffman for signs that he was driven to suicide by a controversial anti-depressant. Hoffman had taken the drug Prozac six weeks before he was found dead on April 12, 1989, in his Solebury Township apartment, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights and the Prozac Survivors Support Group said in a letter to the coroner.

Using antidepressants increases the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior among people 18 to 25 but lessens it for those who are older, the Food and Drug Administration said. The effects of antidepressants on adults ages 25 to 64 were mixed, so much so that the FDA would conclude only that the drugs had a neutral effect on suicidal behavior for them. The information came from a review of 372 studies involving 100,000 patients and 11 drugs, including Lexapro, Zoloft and Prozac.

The Food and Drug Administration will examine clinical trial data for thousands of depressed adults to see whether they, like children, suffered increased suicidal thoughts and behaviors while taking antidepressants. Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting FDA deputy commissioner, could not say how long the analysis would take or how much it would cost. A Columbia University analysis of pediatric clinical trial data examined just one-tenth of the information contained in adult databases.

The Food and Drug Administration will require two smoking-cessation drugs, Chantix and Zyban, to carry the agency's strongest safety warning. The "black box" warning is in response to reports of people experiencing depression, suicidal thoughts or unusual changes in behavior while taking the drugs. The FDA is also requiring an additional study on the drugs to determine the extent of the side effects. Chantix is made by Pfizer Inc. Zyban is made by GlaxoSmithKline.

beginning, perhaps, as a little tickle, hardly noticeable. Maybe you're in an important meeting and you don't want to fidget. Or maybe your hands are full. So you try to ignore it, but the sensation grows -- an irritating, niggling feeling that gradually occupies more and more of your attention. Finally, you can't take it any longer. You have to scratch the itch.

State Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer filed a lawsuit Wednesday charging one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world with hiding significant information about the benefits and risks of its antidepressant medicine Paxil for use in teenagers. The drug has been banned in England and other countries because of concern about side effects including violence and suicidal thoughts and behavior. In the United States, a strong federal warning was issued last June about its use by children.

The Bucks County coroner, ignoring calls from citizens groups, today said he has no intention of reopening the investigation into the suicide of political activist Abbie Hoffman. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights and the Prozac Survivors Support Group--both offshoots of the Church of Scientology--had asked the coroner to reopen the case after it was learned Hoffman took the controversial anti-depressant Prozac six weeks before his death. Dr.

Federal health advisors unanimously rejected a weight-loss drug Wednesday after hearing testimony that it increases the risk of suicidal thoughts, even in patients without a history of depression. The manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis, further failed to show that the drug rimonabant is safe, the panel said. Two 14-0 votes by the expert panel made it unlikely that the Food and Drug Administration would approve the drug. The agency usually follows its panel's advice, but it isn't required to do so.

Authors of a new comprehensive analysis of antidepressants for children and teenagers say the benefits of treatment trump the small risk of increasing some patients' chances of having suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The risk they found is lower than the one the Food and Drug Administration identified in 2004, the year the agency warned the public about the drugs' risks in children. After the warning, U.S.

IT'S A DRAG when you suffer from depression. And it's really a drag when the medication you've been treating your depression with effectively for years suddenly leaves you feeling anxious, nauseated or even suicidal. Even more of a drag? When you realize those symptoms began when you switched from your brand-name antidepressant to its generic version.