The website Psychitaric Times featured an article on  the Center for Disease Control (CDC) study about the increasing antidepressant usage. This was considered alarming by the author because of the varying reviews and warnings on antidepressants such as Zoloft.

Zoloft is a medication for major depression (MDD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety disorder, premenstrual dyphoric disorder (PMDD), panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Over the pst 15 years, a 400 percent increase in usage was noted by CDC. This is despite the warnings from the US Food and Drug Administration, medical researchers and institutions. This means that at present, 11 percent of the American population is taking one or more antidepressants.

In 2006, a warning was released by the FDA regarding the possible Zoloft-attributed birth defects including miscarriage, persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), enlarged heart, delayed evelopment, cleft lip or palate, clubbed foot, craniosyntosis, spina bifida, neural tube defects, macroephaly, left outflow tract heart defects, septal heart defects, and gastrochisis.

The public health advisory says “FDA is advising health care professionals to discuss the potential risk of birth defects with patients who are taking Paxil and who plan to become pregnant or are in their first three months of pregnancy. Health care professionals should consider discontinuing Paxil (and switching to another antidepressant if indicated) in these patients. In some patients, the benefits of continuing Zoloft may be greater than the potential risk to the fetus. FDA is advising health care professionals to avoid prescribing Paxil in women who are in the first three months of pregnancy or who are planning pregnancy, unless other treatment options are not appropriate.”

The FDA found that antidepressants could make teenagers and children hostile, violent, irrational and suicidal, through analyzing results from 372 studies regarding the drug.

Moreover, the FDA in 2007 issued Zoloft warnings on the drug’s risk of increasing suicidal thoughts and behavior. The FDA ordered antidepressant manufacturers to label a “black box warning to the drug. Black box warnings are placed if the drug carries risk of a permanently-disabling, life threatening, or fatal side effect.

In 2008, the New England Journal of Medicine published a research study reflecting that antidepressant effectiveness has been misrepresented in US publications. It presented that studies reflecting antidepressant ineffectiveness were not normally published or were published with ambiguous results.

The July 2011 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry reflected the link between the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) to newborns with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This was featured on the website PRWeb on Novemeber 9, 2011.*

In addition to these warnings and reviews, medical reports from patients also include complaints about the negative side effects of the drug. This incited them to file Zoloft lawsuit against its manufacter, Pfizer.

References:

• depression.emedtv.com/zoloft/zoloft-warnings-and-precautions.html
• zoloftwarnings.org/
• zoloftbirthdefectslawyers.com/zoloft-and-pregnancy/zoloft-warnings/
• prweb.com/releases/2011/11/prweb8817963.htm

Tags

Related posts

• Will Panic Away Work For You? (0)
• Why Am I Always Depressed? (0)
• What To Consider Just Before Acquiring Braces (0)
• Various Solutions For Skin Tag Elimination (0)
• USMLE World Wide Competition Increases (0)