 WASHINGTON
- Doctors in the United States have been warned to take their patients
off an anti-depressant drug very gradually because of concerns of adverse
reactions.
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- Paxil was introduced to the North American
market in the early '90s. It was marketed as a drug that was not supposed
to be addictive.
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- The drug is used to treat a variety of
disorders from depression to anxiety to obsessive compulsive disorder.
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- Paxil was the most commonly prescribed
anti-depressant in Canada in 2000, with about 3 million prescriptions
filled.
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- Now, a labelling change in the U.S. by
the drug's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, makes it clear some patients
will suffer serious effects if they're taken off the drug too quickly.
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- So far, doctors in Canada have yet to
be given the same warning.
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- Last August, 35 people in the U.S. launched
a class action lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company alleging the
drug was addictive and had a "tendency to induce physical and physiological
dependency."
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- Paxil is listed as an SSRI drug - selective
seratonin re-uptake inhibitor - which means it isn't habit-forming. Other
SSRI drugs are Prozac and Zoloft.
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- The suit says patients suffered "severe
withdrawal reactions."
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- GlaxoSmithKline has refused to comment
on the matter.
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- Written by CBC News Online staff
- http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/view?/news/2002/0
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