UK Medical Journal Retracts Some Prozac Claims

The British Medical Journal has retracted certain claims about drug maker Eli Lilly and Co., its drug Prozac and a potential link to suicide, both sides said on Thursday.

The journal caused a stir late last year when it said it had evidence, including “missing documents,” suggesting a link between the antidepressant and suicidal behavior and appearing to show Lilly had knowledge of these “troubling side effects.” “We’ve retracted the point about the documents being missing, but the question about whether or not the information contained in those documents were submitted to the FDA at the appropriate time is still to be answered,” the journal’s acting editor, Kamran Abbasi, told Reuters. The journal stands by its claim that the documents appear to show Lilly officials were aware in the 1980s that the drug had “troubling side effects.” The journal took what some considered an unusual step of sending the documents to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “The BMJ is happy to set the record straight and to apologize to Eli Lilly for this statement, which we now retract, but which we published in good faith,” the article says. Lilly, which has vigorously denied the allegations, said it accepted the journal’s apology. Regulators recently ordered drug makers to slap warning labels on all antidepressants about the drugs’ potential links to suicidal behavior in children and teens. Prozac is the only drug approved by the FDA for treating children, though the labels were demanded for all drug makers. The safeguards closely follow the recommendations of an FDA advisory panel urging the agency to require prominent warnings. The European Medicines Agency has issued similar warnings.(Source: British Medical Journal: Reuters Health: January 2005.)