RLG Dismayed by New Scientific Paper Stating Antidepressants Do More Harm Than Good
The Rottenstein Law Group, which represents clients with claims stemming from the adverse effects of Zoloft, a member of the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) class of antidepressants, is chagrined—but not surprised—by a recently published paper in which a group of researchers state that the harmful side effects of commonly prescribed antidepressants far outweigh the drugs’ minimal benefits.
Published on April 24, 2012, in the online journal Frontiers in Evolutionary Psychology, the paper is titled Primum no nocere: evolutionary analysis of whether antidepressants do more harm than good. According to an article on MedicalXpress.com, the paper’s conclusions are based on its authors’ analysis of “previous patient studies into the effects of anti-depressants.”
The paper’s authors report having “had difficulty finding strong evidence of [antidepressants’] beneficial effects.” But, their paper states, they did find significant evidence of antidepressants’ negative impact on bodily processes that rely on seratonin, an “evolutionarily ancient biochemical” that antidepressants increase in the brain, where seratonin regulates mood. As a result of antidepressants’ negative effect on these processes, antidepressants can cause digestive problems, atypical sperm development, abnormal bleeding, stroke and premature death, the paper’s authors wrote.
Since the authors’ “review shows that antidepressants have adverse effects on every major system regulated by serotonin,” and since their review also found little credible scientific evidence to support assertions that antidepressants benefit their users, the paper concludes: “The weight of current evidence suggests that, in general, antidepressants are neither safe nor effective; they appear to do more harm than good.”
As an advocate of patients who have been injured or killed as a result of having taken the antidepressant Zoloft, the Rottenstein Law Group hopes the medical community, as suggested by the paper’s authors: (1) explains to patients that the symptom-reducing effects of antidepressants are modest for all but the most serious depressives, (2) exercises significantly greater caution in the prescription of antidepressants, and (3) conducts significantly more research into the overall functioning of antidepressants.
