Antidepressants Mostly Useless, Study Finds

Big Pharma swallowed a bitter pill yesterday as Prozac and other antidepressants were found in a UK study to be largely ineffectual in all but the most extreme cases of depression. The meta-analysis of 47 clinical trials submitted to the FDA with licensing applications for six popular antidepressants concluded that they should be prescribed only when all other treatments fail to yield results, the Independent reports.

"This study raises serious issues that need to be addressed surrounding drug licensing and how drug trial data is reported," one researcher said. The pharmaceutical industry has remained calm about the latest findings. "This one study should not be used to cause unnecessary alarm for patients," GlaxoSmithKline announced. But doctors are expected to be "much more cautious about prescribing" antidepressants, one author said. (More pharmaceutical industry stories.)