Considering Paxil's apparent link to heart problems in babies, what can be done to spread the word to doctors. We hope information about this link gets more attention. In light of a recent Canadian report showing that drug regulatory agencies’ warnings of the heightened risk of suicides linked to some antidepressants like Paxil were nearly all ignored by doctors who prescribed these medications, it may be that pregnant mothers may have to do their own homework.

Dr. Paul A. Kurdyak, from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, and colleagues performed a time-series analysis of new antidepressant prescriptions in Ontario between 1998 and 2005. The American Journal of Public Health published the report online. www.ajph.org

Earlier, the UK Committee on Safety of Medicine released a report cautioning doctors against prescribing Paxil to patients under the age 18, thus bringing attention to the antidepressant suicide risks. Then, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration www.fda.gov issued a similar drug advisory of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)—a particular class of antidepressants—in young patients. In September 2005, the FDA expanded the warnings to include the risks to an unborn fetus if the mother takes Paxil.

Kurdyak's team examined computerized prescription records of the Ontario Drug Benefit program. Investigators performed a time-series analysis of new antidepressant drugs to find trends in antidepressant prescription coverage that would indicate whether or not agency advisories were being taken seriously.

Kurdyak’s team found that of all five advisories of the increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors linked to antidepressants, only the first warning resulted in change—new Paxil prescriptions for patients under 20 years of age dropped by 54 percent. Otherwise, prescription patterns did not change for any other individual or class of antidepressants in any age group. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_45944.html No other antidepressant prescription patterns altered, indicating that physicians overlooked the risks.

The fact that the warnings are not necessarily persuading doctors is a serious cause for concern. Both the FDA and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists www.acog.org recommend that public should sit with doctors to talk about the risk of taking antidepressants like Paxil.