New Data Show Declines In Antidepressant Prescribing
Abstract
All of those contacted by Psychiatric News agreed with its analysis, whether the data are shown as total number of prescriptions dispensed each month over the two-year period beginning with July 2003 or as a percentage change in the number of prescriptions dispensed each month calculated from the base month of March 2004, when the number of prescriptions peaked (see chart at right). A third analysis (not depicted here) showed similar trends. That analysis looked at the percentage of change in the number of prescriptions written by quarter, compared with the same quarter in the previous year. The number of antidepressant prescriptions dispensed was increasing from the beginning of July 2003 through March 2004, in both pediatric and adult populationsâan upward trend confirmed by previously published data showing steadily increasing annual sales figures for the antidepressant class over the last several years. However, according to the NDC Health data, during April 2004âjust after the FDA's March 22 Public Health Advisory that resulted from the February meeting of the advisory committeesâthe number of prescriptions dispensed to both adults and to children dropped precipitously. Indeed, in just one month, the number of antidepressant prescriptions for those over the age of