FIRST it was antidepressants. Now everything from quit-smoking drugs and anticonvulsants to stay-alert drugs and diet pills are being linked to an increase in “suicidal thinking”. Two weeks ago, the US Food and Drug Administration announced that it was investigating a possible link between suicidality and a popular asthma drug that wasn’t even thought to affect the central nervous system. What’s going on?
The current frenzy linking drugs to potential suicide dates back to 2003. There had been reports of increased suicidal thinking in children prescribed antidepressants, but the clinical trial data proved almost impossible to interpret. “It was really…
