Trial review confirms common antidepressant is 'unsafe and ineffective' for teens

http://goo.gl/kfQiLU

The main purpose of the new study was to compare paroxetine (Paxil) and imipramine (Tofranil) with placebo for effectiveness and safety in treating adolescents with unipolar major depression. The original study had looked at 275 adolescents from 12 North American academic psychiatry centers from April 1994 to February 1998.

The revised results show that paroxetine and imipramine were neither statistically nor clinically significantly different from placebo. They also show that there were clinically significant increases in harms, including thoughts of suicide.

In an accompanying article to this new research, Peter Doshi, associate editor for The BMJ, says "for those who have been calling for a retraction of the Keller paper for many years, the system has failed."

Doshi then runs through a series of revelations concerning the errors made by the original investigators, the drug company staff and Keller's home academic institution.