Antidepressant Drugs and Their Adverse Reactions Profile After Long-Term Clinical Use with Special Reference to Lofepramine

Treatment of large patient populations is essential for the detection of adverse reactions which have a low frequency of occurrence. Close surveillance of the long-term clinical use in many patients helps to map the adverse reaction profile of the different drugs. Based on reports to authorities in Sweden and the UK, adverse reaction profiles for different antidepressant drugs are presented. A unified system for classifying adverse reactions and for estimating the probability that certain reactions are caused by certain drugs would be of considerable help in achieving a better overview of the adverse reactions profile of different antidepressant drugs. These profiles should not be confused with the adverse reaction rate, i.e. the number of patients treated who run the risk of being affected by specific adverse reactions. Conclusive data on drug differences can only be gained from comparative clinical studies.