SSRIs still prescribed for children despite warnings
In 2004, 85,251 child prescriptions were issued for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency ruled the year before should not be given to children.
The total amounted to one in three of all antidepressants issued to juveniles,
Paul Burstow (Lib Dem, Sutton and Cheam) was told in a Parliamentary
written reply made by the Department of Health.
More than 6,000 of the prescriptions were for paroxetine, a drug which
the MHRA had judged to be safe only for adults and should not be given
to under-18s. But such rulings are not binding on GPs, who are free to
use their own discretion when prescribing.
Over 27,000 prescriptions for SSRIs, including paroxetine, were written
for children under 18. The MHRA in 2004 issued revised guidelines saying
that only fluoxetine was safe for juveniles and even that should only
be prescribed as a last resort.
Mr Burstow said: “There has been long-standing under-investment
in child and adolescent mental health and the admitted levels of prescribing
SSRIs to youngsters is a direct consequence of that. There should be
more emphasis on therapy and less on prescribing drugs which can increase
the risk of emotional distress, self-harm and even suicidal tendencies.”
He pointed to recent research that suggested that eight out of 10 GPs
themselves believe that too many SSRI prescriptions are issued to both
children and adults.
A DoH spokesman said: “Not all SSRIs
issued to under-18s are for the treatment of depression. A proportion
are for phobic states, bed-wetting and other disorders.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader