BNET
By Jim Edwards
May 21, 2010
It was established years ago that Paxil carries a risk of suicide in children and teens, but GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has for the last 18 months been conducting a study of the antidepressant in kids as young as seven — in Japan. It’s not clear why the company would want to draw more attention to its already controversial pill, but it appears as if GSK might be hoping to see a reduced suicide risk in a small population of users — a result the company could use to cast doubt on the Paxil-equals-teen-suicide meme that dominates discussion of the drug.
GSK didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A staffer on GSK’s trials hotline confirmed the study was ongoing, however. The drug carries a “black box” warning on its patient information sheet, warning doctors and consumers that the antidepressant is twice as likely to generate lethal thoughts than a placebo.
The trial criteria listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, however, provide an interesting lesson in how managers can carefully design drug trials designed to flatter their products — something good companies don’t do.
Read entire article: http://industry.bnet.com/pharma/10008290/glaxo-is-testing-paxil-on-7-year-olds-despite-well-known-suicide-risks/
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Tags: 7-Year-Olds, antidepressants, GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, Japan, lethal thoughts, Paxil, pills, placebo, Suicide, suicide risk
This entry was posted on Friday, May 21st, 2010 at 2:28 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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