Fears over drug deaths

AN anti-depressant prescribed almost 200,000 times a year in Ireland has been directly linked to 118 deaths in Britain.

The drug venlafaxine - sold in Ireland under the name Efexor - has been singled out by the National Statistics Office in Britain in a major study of deaths linked to the use of antidepressants.

In a report into 5,000 such deaths, venlafaxine was singled out on the basis that death rates associated with its use showed a continuous rise over a 10-year period.

By contrast, mortality rates from most other types of drugs used to treat depression are either static or falling. The death rate for Efexor was over four times the mortality rate for people using the popular anti-depressant, Prozac. The latest figures show 136,047 prescriptions were issued in Ireland for Prozac in 2002.

This latest warning on anti-depressants follows several medical studies linking Seroxat to increased risk of suicidal behaviour. Efexor’s death rate is six times that of Seroxat, an antidepressant prescribed 172,309 times in Ireland in 2002.

The most recent Irish figures for Efexor show 112,024 prescriptions were issued in 2002 to medical card holders, at a cost of €4.8 million under the GMS scheme. A further 76,861 prescriptions for Efexor were written under the Drug Payment Scheme at a cost of almost €3.5m.

In Ireland, Efexor has been available for the past six years and is widely prescribed for treating people with depression.

Medical sources said it has grown in popularity among psychiatrists because it has shown more rapid clinical improvements than other anti-depressants on the market.

Dr Siobhan Barry, spokeswoman for the Irish Psychiatric Association, said the British statistics highlighted the need for further investigation into Efexor.

But she advised patients taking Efexor to continue taking the drug as prescribed and to discuss any concerns with their doctor.

“The data cannot be ignored but until such time as the cause of death in these cases is firmly established, no one should precipitate any findings by starting to change their current medication,” Dr Barry said.

A spokesperson for the Irish Medicines Board said it was engaged in monitoring the safety of all licensed drugs on an ongoing basis. She added that the IMB would consider all relevant data and information in assessing the safety of all medical products.