News

 Mental health charity Mind has led calls for an urgent review of drug licensing laws after the antidepressant Efexor was banned from use on young people.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced the ban last week after new research showed there was insufficient evidence of its effectiveness and increased fears over its side effects.

Compared with a placebo group, those under-18s being treated for depression with the drug were more likely to experience harmful outcomes including hostility, suicidal thoughts and self harm, the study found.

Around 3,000 under-18s are being treated with the drug, despite it already carrying a warning not to be used on children. Doctors were entitled to prescribe the drug “off licence” because, up until now, there had been insufficient research showing the dangers. This advice will now be strengthened in light of the findings.

Mind said the case raised “deep concerns” about the way psychiatric drugs were regulated and the way clinical trials were carried out, and called for the government to provide more alternative treatments like cognitive behavioural therapy.

 Efexor is the second anti-depressant to be banned from use on children, following a ban on Seroxat in June.