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Re-Analysis of Medical Study Reverses Conclusions -- Paxil Unsafe For Teenagers

Posted by Soulskill on from the fighting-the-profit-motive dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The NY Times is covering a new paper in the journal BMJ which re-analyzed data from a 2001 paper, coming to the opposite conclusions of the earlier study. The BMJ paper covers the effectiveness and safety of two antidepressant drugs for adolescent use, and the authors were able to re-analyze the original data after the release of previously confidential documents. The BMJ editors call into question some of the integrity of previous publishing, noting that none of the authors listed on 2001 paper actually wrote the original manuscript, and call for results of clinical trials to be made freely available so the science community can verify and self-correct results. The BMJ has released the study and provided an accompanying press release (PDF).

5 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Why do teens *need* all these drugs??? by cayenne8 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Good Lord, We had no inclination of taking the slew of pharmaceutical drugs back in my day as a teen. Ok, sure, we had plenty of "parking lot" drugs we often had fun with...but as far as systemized drugging of kids, we did just fine without all the anti-depressants turning kids into zombies so early ln life.

    I can't imagine we're doing these young teens and pre-teens any good with all this. We didn't need it in the past and we all came out well adjusted (always a few exceptions), so why in God's name do we feel the need to start drugging kids from such an early age ?

    It is just big Pharma selling more wares, getting folks hooked early?

    Between "Attention deficit disorder" (formerly known as being "a boy")...and now anti-depressants, can a kid that was once considered normal growing up and developing with all the fun times and turbulent times grow up today without the first inclination be to DRUG THEM?

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    1. Re:Why do teens *need* all these drugs??? by hyperar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because pharma companies want money?

    2. Re:Why do teens *need* all these drugs??? by Alicat1194 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How do you know that you would not have had the same repsonse if not a better one if you were given a placebo??

      Oddly enough, my mother did try placebos at one point (she was a nurse, so was in to that sort of stuff). She would give me what I later found out was a small amount of milk with vanilla essence in it, and tell me it was "medicine". It worked to calm the panic somewhat, but not prevent it from occurring (and oddly enough, I'd rather it just didn't occur full-stop).

      However once I hit puberty pretty much everything went out of the window (thanks hormones!). Even now I have noticed that I'm more likely to have problems during certain points in the hormone cycle.

      Add to that that I've been on three different versions (paroxetine, sertraline and venlafaxine), and had very different experiences from each. If I was only experiencing the placebo effect, I'd expect to have a similar outcome from each, but that wasn't the case (Paroxetine was good, but lost efficacy. Sertraline was awesome for the OCD (stopped it dead), middling on the anxiety, and made me an emotional mess. Venlafaxine is good for the anxiety, but only passable for the OCD).

      --
      You can learn a lot about a person if you just take the time to inject them with sodium pentathol
    3. Re:Why do teens *need* all these drugs??? by DerekLyons · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Good Lord, We had no inclination of taking the slew of pharmaceutical drugs back in my day as a teen.

      So?
       
      You aren't (by implication) a teen anymore. You may not however be old (or mature) enough to grasp that times change.
       
      When I was a teen, lo these many decades ago, society was different too... and not necessarily better. Tying one on an Friday night and then driving home was completely acceptable. Even though it killed people. A guy getting a girl drunk and raping her was just "boys will be boys" - and if she wore anything that might be considered 'sexy', she was a slut and it was her fault for "leading him on anyway".
       
      I have no desire to go back to those days.
       

      We didn't need it in the past and we all came out well adjusted (always a few exceptions)

      No, we didn't "all come out well adjusted". Some did. Others turned into recluses. Others carried on day by day but suffered a half life in silence. Others turned to alcohol, or weed, or... worse. Yet others could no longer bear the pain because society has a deep stigma against not being "well adjusted" and chose the ultimate way out. You only think they turned out "well adjusted" because you've rejected the notion that things might be other than their surface appearance out of hand.
       
      I have at least three classmates who might have made it out of their early twenties if back then assholes like you hadn't made idiot claims like "we had no inclination to diagnose and treat mental illnesses and we turned out well adjusted". I have two cousins my age who might be useful members of society rather than living in a bottle if they hadn't been taught growing up that "real men don't seek treatment", an attitude born of the same ignorance you spout.
       
      I have no desire to go back to those days either.

    4. Re:Why do teens *need* all these drugs??? by WalrusSlayer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Of course extreme cases are a minority. That changes nothing. These kids, the extreme cases, need the medicine. Need.

      This is similar to the largely pointless debate on antidepressants in general. Anyone who hasn't had clinical depression has no fucking clue what it's like. I was one the most motivated, self-starter, hard-working, emotionally balanced people out there, until my life circumstances changed immensely in my 40's. It took me a long time to recognize that I had clinical depression, since the slide was so gradual and I never ever could envision myself having this problem. Fortunately the first med I tried was extremely effective, and I was just shocked at how far I had slid once I was more like myself again. Oh the time I wasted while in the fog of depression and not even really knowing it. Life's too short.

      The same is true with ADHD. Unless you have kids with true ADHD, you're clueless. I never imagined having to deal with a medication regimen with my own kids. If we could get off this train, we would, but they are essentially learning disabled without them. This is not "kids will be kids". It's a real disability, and ADHD children are very fortunate to be growing up in a time where it can be treated such they can live more fulfilling lives.

      Or in other words: "what he said". It's easy to be an armchair Public Health Expert when you aren't affected by the condition in question. Real life is a lot messier.