Adverse Effects

A team of psychiatrists reviewed 654 cases in West Ireland to find that nearly 1% of all patients taking the antipsychotic clozapine had experienced clozapine-induced stuttering.

Continuing to take antidepressants during pregnancy was associated with higher rates of depressive relapses and hospitalizations than discontinuing.

"A Pfizer Inc. report shows a scientist warned executives last year about a potential link between the anti-depressant drug Zoloft and birth defects."

Common psychotropic medications may be contributing to the higher rates of physical illnesses and mortality in people diagnosed with mental illnesses.

A new study has reinforced earlier warnings that taking SSRI antidepressants late in pregnancy appears to put mothers at a slightly increased risk of having newborns with persistent pulmonary hypertension.

One reason that depression is linked to later psychological problems in children could be because depressed mothers often have less healthy diets.

Depressed pregnant women need good care.  They should not be made to feel guilty for the choices they make concerning their depression or lectured to by those who don’t understand the area or lack compassion for them.  In that sense, Andrew Solomon does the public a service by turning his attention and writing talents to the topic of depression and pregnancy this week in the New York Times.  However, a crucial part of providing good care to depressed pregnant women is to give them accurate information on the topic.  In this sense, Andrew Solomon falls short.

"Depression can double risk of stroke," reported many news outlets, covering a study by Harvard School of Public Health researchers in the Journal of the American Heart Association

There were some differences between the study, the abstract, the press release and the media coverage about the risks of taking antipsychotics during pregnancy.

The US FDA has launched a campaign to dispel the "myth" that women shouldn't be taking any medications while pregnant.

Zolpidem, the active ingredient in many common sleep aids, accounts for more emergency hospital visits than any other psychoactive drug.

The settlement of an Australian class action lawsuit about Pfizer Parkinson's drugs that caused severe gambling and sex addictions in 172 people has been delayed by a judge concerned that the plaintiffs were not fully informed of their rights.

-The debate on drug harms lands in the pages of the British Medical Journal and The Guardian.

Pregnant women taking antidepressant medications, especially during the second trimester, have an increased risk of preeclampsia, a potentially serious or even fatal condition.

-Forensic psychiatrist Andrew Shepherd reviews a recent study on withdrawal effects from coming off antidepressant drugs.

Researchers found some antipsychotics to be worse than others for causing sexual dysfunction.

Lithium appears to reduce libido and sexual function, and more research into the problem is needed.

Zoloft caused up to six-fold increases in build-up of atherosclerosis plaque in the coronary arteries of monkeys.

A JAMA Psychiatry study found links between PTSD, type 2 diabetes, and antidepressants.

Antipsychotic drugs increased the risk of children developing diabetes by 50%, and with an antidepressant added, their risk doubled.

-Two neuroscientists call for "immediate action" to better understand the risks of using drugs like Ritalin and Provigil to "enhance" cognitive functions.

The first of more than 1,000 lawsuits about Zoloft and birth defects has gotten underway.

Over 70% of schizophrenia patients who are "treatment resistant" have apparently developed dopamine supersensitivity psychosis from long-term use of antipsychotic medications.

A retrospective study in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry examined cases of people who suffered sexual dysfunction that endured even after stopping taking SSRI antidepressants.

The use by mothers of any of four major classes of psychiatric medications during pregnancy significantly raises the risk that their babies will be born with low birth weights and will need to be hospitalized.