Anti-depressant drugs - Investigate claimed link to suicides

When an autopsy expert with 30 years of experience suspects a possible link between suicide and the use of powerful anti-depressant drugs, it becomes a matter of the utmost concern and one that warrants immediate investigation.

The grave doubts expressed by former assistant state pathologist Dr Declan Gilsenan lend considerable weight to calls for action on this controversial issue. The authorities would be failing in their duty of care to the public if they do not heed his concerns over the number of suicide cases where he had carried out autopsies on victims who had recently started taking the anti-depressants in question.

Known collectively as SSRIs, they include popular drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, Paxil, and Celexa, which are available on prescription from a GP. Significantly, fears about a suspected connection between suicides and this family of drugs arise at a time when a frightening number of young Irish men are taking their own lives. This fully justifies his call for doctors to be more careful about prescribing and for people to be monitored more carefully.