After the well-publicized problems with antidepressants and an increased risk of suicide, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now requiring pharmaceutical companies to assess and track suicidal ideation during all clinical drug trials.
The New York Times has the full story, F.D.A. Requiring Suicide Studies in Drug Trials:
The drug agency’s concerns are consistent with a growing body of research confirming that behavior is heavily influenced not only by genes but also by seemingly innocuous changes in body chemistry. Drugs not reaching the brain were once thought to be largely free of mental effects.
“One lesson from pharmacology is that you can see effects on emotion and cognition without the drug entering the brain if a drug leads to peripheral changes in” other chemicals that enter the brain, said Dr. Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health.
Some critics say that the agency’s new-found focus on psychiatric side effects is long overdue.
“The list of drugs that causes psychiatric problems is a very long one,” said Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s health research group.
Indeed, this has been a long-time in coming. With the FDA finally acknowledging that many non-psychiatric medications may have psychiatric side effects and symptoms, this new focus on suicidal side effects will help the agency better screen drugs before they come to market.
Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.Like this author?
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 24 Jan 2008
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Grohol, J. (2008). Suicide Assessment Now Required in Drug Studies. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 26, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2008/01/24/suicide-assessment-now-required-in-drug-studies/
