Unintended Consequences of Adjusting Citalopram Prescriptions Following the 2011 FDA Warning

Objectives In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety announcement cautioning providers against prescribing citalopram above 40 mg per day given concerns for QT prolongation. We assessed the impact of a health system quality improvement initiative to identify patients taking higher than the recommended dose of citalopram. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Nine primary care clinics within the University of Michigan from March 2012 to February 2013. Participants Adult patients taking a higher-than-recommended dose of citalopram following the FDA warning in 2011 (N = 199). Measurements Frequency of EKG monitoring, clinical factors associated with patients whose citalopram dose or use was adjusted, and potential impact of these changes on overall health care utilization was assessed. Results In patients prescribed higher-than-recommended doses of citalopram and who received a note from a pharmacist regarding the FDA warnings, only 8.5% received electrocardiogram (EKG) monitoring. Patients who were converted to an alternative antidepressant from citalopram were more likely to receive subsequent new prescriptions for benzodiazepines and sedative hypnotics (χ2 = 7.9, p = 0.048). Patients who had any adjustments to their antidepressant medication had greater overall health care utilization (OR: 25.0; 95% CI: 5.7–109.6; p