Antidepressants' Black-Box Warning — 10 Years Later

In 2004, the FDA issued a black-box warning linking antidepressants to an increased risk of suicidal thinking, feeling, and behavior in young people. But some worrisome trends suggest that the warning may inadvertently discourage appropriate treatment of depression. In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a black-box warning on antidepressants indicating that they were associated with an increased risk of suicidal thinking, feeling, and behavior in young people. The agency's decision was immediately controversial: many members of the medical community worried that this warning would do more harm than good because it would discourage depressed patients from seeking help and discourage doctors from prescribing antidepressants when they were clinically indicated. Now, 10 years later, there are substantial epidemiologic data to address these important concerns. What effect has the FDA warning had on the rates of detection . . .