Did FDA Just Ignite a War Between SSRI Skeptics and Pharma?

Researchers estimate 6–8 percent of pregnant women in the U.S. take antidepressants such as SSRIs and SNRIs. The FDA convened a 10-expert panel on July 21 to examine SSRI safety during pregnancy and medical organizations and major media reacted with swift backlash. ACOG called the panel 'alarmingly unbalanced,' and some headlines accused the panel of promoting misinformation. Panelists said knee-jerk condemnations can deprive women of information needed to make health decisions for themselves and their unborn children. Adam Urato, a maternal-fetal medicine chief, joined the panel to describe how drugs like Lexapro and Zoloft can impact fetal development and suggested pharmaceutical funding likely influenced media coverage that downplayed risks.

Depression during pregnancy is an important topic. (Depression affects up to 9 percent of pregnant women in the U.S., according to the Mayo Clinic.) But such knee-jerk reactions to conversations about the risks of SSRIs rob women of the information they need to make decisions for their own health and the health of their unborn children, two of the panelists told The American Conservative in interviews.

The backlash surprised and frustrated him, he said in an interview. "This FDA panel really highlighted that there are significant risks with the use of these drugs in pregnancy," Urato said. "I'm speculating to some extent, but I think that that probably fueled part of this corporate media backlash.... A lot of the funding for corporate media now comes from the pharmaceutical industry."

Read at The American Conservative