- A fresh warning was sounded yesterday over the anti-depressant
Efexor after it emerged that deaths involving the drug were rising at a
time when those from other types of anti-depressants were falling or remained
static.
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- It came as official statistics showed that almost 5,000
people died from drug poisoning involving anti-depressants in the past
decade. Most were suicides.
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- Efexor - whose chemical name is venlafaxine - was licensed
around nine years and used by about 3,000 adolescents, among others, until
last year when a study found it could cause hostility, suicidal ideas and
self-harm.
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- Doctors said it should no longer be prescribed to under-18s.
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- New figures from the Office for National Statistics show
there were 17.6 deaths among users for every million prescriptions written
for Efexor and similar types of anti-depressant between 1993 and 2002.
This compares with a rate of 4.3 deaths per million prescriptions for anti-depressants
such as Prozac.
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- An ONS spokesman said more commonly prescribed anti-depressants
were more toxic "but the difference with venlafaxine is that the death
rate is going up."
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- Asked if the figures on venlafaxine could be taken as
a warning signal over prescribing the drug, the spokesman said: "We
could interpret it like that, yes."
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- Robbie Williams, the singer, said a year ago that he
took Efexor daily to cope with his life.
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- "I am happy because of the pills," he said,
comparing his depression to being stabbed in the leg, and saying he believed
it was hereditary.
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- Trials have also shown Efexor is effective for post-natal
depression.
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- Other figures yesterday show deaths from certain anti-depressants
are 10 times higher than those from other brands.
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- Its report raises new questions about the efficacy of
the drugs, their side-effects and whether doctors are over prescribing
so-called "happy pills" to people anxious or stressed rather
than suffering severe mental problems.
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- The number of anti-depressants being prescribed in England
alone has risen dramatically over the past 10 years from 10 million to
26 million items per year.
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- A spokesman for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, manufacturers
of venlafaxine, said: "These figures (death per million prescriptions)
do not take into account the severity of depression being treated. People
on Efexor have often failed on other anti-depressants.
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- "In Britain, Efexor is often reserved for a second
line therapy (which means it is not the first drug of choice) and given
to people seriously ill with depression."
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
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