Jul 10, 2008 2:40 pm US/Central
FDA Panel: Epilepsy Drugs Raise Suicide Risk
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
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A pharmacist prepares a prescription. (File)
AP
Drugs used by millions of Americans to treat epileptic seizures can cause increased risks of suicide, a government panel recommended Thursday.
Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously that 11 anti-seizure drugs studied by the FDA can cause suicidal tendencies in patients.
A government analysis of 200 studies of the drugs showed that patients taking anti-seizure drugs were more likely to have suicidal thoughts and behaviors than those taking dummy pills. While the reported problems were extremely rare, the FDA said drug-treated patients did face about twice the risk.
A 20-member panel of neurologists, psychiatrists and statisticians backed FDA's findings unanimously, with one member abstaining.
The group is scheduled to vote later this afternoon on whether the risks identified by the FDA pertain to all anti-seizure medications or only those studied in the agency's analysis. The panel will also vote on whether the drugs should receive "black box" warnings, the strongest the FDA designates.
Anti-seizure drugs - which are marketed by Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline and others - were the fifth best-selling class of drugs in the U.S. last year, with sales over $10 billion, according to pharmaceutical research firm IMS Health.
More than 10 million Americans take the medications, which are used for a variety of illnesses in addition to epilepsy, including migraines, certain nerve-pain disorders, and psychiatric diseases such as bipolar disorder.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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