Prozac suicide rates

All medications produce some side effects. Reports of adverse effects, even if very infrequent, must be taken seriously and investigated systematicaOy. There is a place for skepticism and scrutiny. However, one must consider the negative effect of unsubstantiated reports in the lay press. For example, the risk of Prozac-induced suicide appears to be extremely low, and, the suicide rate in untreated major depression is reported to be 15 percent. Clearly, failure to treat carries the graver risk. 

An unpublished document obtained during discovery in product liability suits against the drug company disclosed that Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of fluoxetine (Prozac), had evaluated the comparative rates of suicide attempts on fluoxetine, amitriptyline, and placebo (the documents are available from http //www.breggin.com). The data were generated during controlled clinical trials conducted for the FDA approval process for Prozac for depression. On the basis of the company s data for controlled clinical trials, patients taking fluoxetine were 12 times more... 

In materials gained through discovery in the Wesbecker case, I found in-house documents from Eli Lilly clearly demonstrating an increased rate of suicide attempts in Prozac patients compared to placebo and to tricyclic antidepressants (Breggin, 1994 available on http //www.breggin. com). This was a shocking discovery as Eli Lilly claimed, and continues to claim, that no such data exist. 

Consultants hired by Eli Lilly pruned down the original reports, excluding six of the suicide attempts on Prozac and one on either the comparison drug or placebo. That is, they decided to throw out a substantial portion of the data that reflected badly on their employer s drug. The ratio remained 6 1, and the consultants continued to find a borderline statistically significant (p =. 051) increased rate for suicide attempts among the Prozac patients. 

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