Iatrogenesis and the recent selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor debate.

© 2008 Published by Elsevier Inc. 0883-9417/1801-0005$34.00/0 doi:10.1016/j.apnu.2008.02.002 I quences of interventions by health care professionals, often is discussed in relation to the nosocomial infections that one develops while hospitalized in a medical surgical unit. However, psychiatric treatment and providers are once again “on the hot seat” in relation to the monitoring of treatment with antidepressants. Two recent articles in the New York Times, both published on the same day, February 19, 2008, have raised questions in the psychiatric community about the links between antidepressants and suicide (http://www.nytimes. com/2008/02/19/us/19depress.html, http://www. nytimes.com/2008/02/19/us/19suicide.html). The first article was focused on new reports from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. From 1999 to 2004, CDC figures indicated that the suicide rate among 45to 54-year-olds increased nearly 20%, with a 31% increase among women in that age group. As reported by the Alliance for Human Research Protection (http://ahrp.org), IMS Health, the international consulting and data services company that supplies the pharmaceutical industry with sales data, prescriptions for Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) skyrocketed. The second article was focused on one individual, a model student who shot and killed several other students, and wounded many others, in a rampage that followed after he abruptly discontinued his use of Prozac. The academic and scientific debate will continue about the benefits and negative consequences of treatment with SSRIs