US pediatric antidepressant Rxs fall 10% since black-box warings

The number of pediatric patients in the USA prescribed an antidepressant decreased 9.8% after the Food and Drug Administration issued black-box warnings on such products in October 2004 (Marketletters passim), according to a study presented by i3 Research at the US National Institute of Mental Health's New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit annual meeting in Boca Raton, Florida. The study showed that the number of patients receiving a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor fell 11.9%.

i3 says that, of 3.8 million eligible patients in its database, more than 62,000 aged 17 and younger were prescribed an antidepressant prior to the warnings, mainly for a major depressive disorder, while over 56,000 were prescribed one after the black-box requirement. The largest percentage decrease, 14.5%, occurred in children younger than nine years.