New Research Contradicts Findings of Earlier GSK Study

The antidepressant paroxetine is neither safe nor effective for adolescents with depression, according to results published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The results contradict the findings of a GSK study in 2001 that showed paroxetine as an effective and safe treatment for children and adolescents with major depression.

This is the first trial to be reanalyzed and published by the BMJ under an initiative called RIAT (Restoring Invisible and Abandoned Trials), which encourages abandoned or misreported studies to be published or formally corrected.

Dr. Fiona Godlee, BMJ Editor-in-Chief, has called for independent clinical trials rather than trials funded and managed by industry, as well as legislation “to ensure that the results of all clinical trials are made fully available and the individual patient data are available for legitimate independent third party scrutiny.”

Peter Doshi, BMJ's Associate Editor explains the RIAT initiative in this video.

For the full press release, click here.