Health Canada issues “stronger, clearer” warnings about suicide risks linked to ADHD drugs

[UnfoldingSky]

Health Canada issues “stronger, clearer” warnings about suicide risks linked to ADHD drugs

 

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/03/30/health-canada-issues-stronger-clearer-warnings-about-suicide-risks-linked-to-adhd-drugs.html  

 

Regulator says “there is little evidence to establish that these drugs cause suicidal thoughts and behaviours, but it is possible they may contribute to the risk.”

 

By: David Bruser News Reporter, Jesse McLean Investigative News reporter, Staff Reporters, Published on Mon Mar 30 2015

 

Prompted by reports of suicidal behaviour in patients taking ADHD medications, Health Canada is issuing “stronger, clearer warnings” about the risks associated with the drugs.

 

The drugs are: Adderall XR, Concerta, Biphentin, Strattera, Intuniv XR, Dexedrine, Ritalin, Ritalin SR, and Vyvanse. They are prescribed to help manage attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a term used to describe people with poor focus, impulsivity and hyperactivity.

 

Health Canada said that, overall, the benefits of these drugs in ADHD treatment continue to outweigh the risks.

 

The regulator made the announcement Monday after reviewing reports of suspected side-effects filed to the federal government. Such reports are typically made by doctors, nurses, patients and drug companies.

 

“The reports involved thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts, and in a very small number of cases, completed suicide,” Health Canada said in a statement. “These events have been reported at various times during treatment, particularly at the start or during dose changes, and also after stopping the drug treatment.”

 

More at above link.

 

[UnfoldingSky]

 

Regulator says “there is little evidence to establish that these drugs cause suicidal thoughts and behaviours, but it is possible they may contribute to the risk.”

 

 

 

I love when they write stuff like this...

 

Of course they can't "prove" this, since when it is ethical to run studies to prove something causes suicide???  It wasn't ethical to run studies to prove smoking causes cancer either, but the evidence over time from smokers proved there was a relationship.

 

Also, at the end of the article they try to pawn off suicides on misdiagnosed depression--that ADHD wasn't really ADHD it was depression...Huh?  Since when are depressed people so so hyperactive???  Except of course, those people who wind up messed up by ADs who end up with akathisia...

[westcoast]

That is the worst claptrap imaginable. Good find.

"Such reports are typically made by doctors, nurses, patients and drug companies." Because they are so reliable in these matters?

"Regulator says “there is little evidence to establish that these drugs cause suicidal thoughts and behaviours” You mean "a little evidence exists that establishes the dangers?" Please define "a little." How many studies, how many case reports, how many patients?

 

"...but it is possible they may contribute to the risk." It is POSSIBLE that they MAY [might?] CONTRIBUTE to the RISK? Possible, may, contribute, risk. But what about that wee bit of evidence to show they cause suicidal behaviours, er, SUICIDE?

"and in a very small number of cases, completed suicide" How many cases, eh?

[westcoast]

"The side-effect reports show only a suspected connection between the drug and side-effect but no medical proof that one caused the other."

I believe they will have shown that people who take speed are more likely to kill themselves than are people who do not. So just say it.

 

That is called a correlation, and indeed does not demonstrate causality. It could be that people who choose to take speed are closer to suicide initially than are people who decline drugs.

But why not stick with the parsimonious explanation?

We know speed causes mania and delirium, two hazardous conditions in which one's judgement is impaired.

[westcoast]

Ah, the Star investigated and got the data:
 

The Star’s 2012 investigation found in these suspected side-effect reports, which are filed in a federal database, that 76 kids on ADHD medications thought about killing themselves. One-third of these were children younger than 10; some were as young as 6.

In addition, the Star found that 22 Canadian youths aged 8 to 18 tried to kill themselves. Five completed the attempt. All were boys age 13 to 15.

[westcoast]

And finally,

"Health Canada said that, overall [other than those dead boys], the benefits of these drugs in ADHD treatment continue to outweigh the risks."

For God's sake. My generation (late boomers) didn't need ADHD drugs, and we graduated grade school able to write sentences and do arithmetic, unlike these phone-gazing drugged-up creatures of the present day.

So why is the "benefit" of speed necessary now, at the cost of unforgiveable harms to grieving parents, and not before?

What a world, what a world.

Having ranted out all of the above, I will say that I did not know that ADHD meds were associated with suicidality. I thought it would be more like mania and psychosis, my old bedfellows.

With Straterra, yes. I believe it is in a different class from the rest. I took it for a few days in late 2013 and had to go to emergency and beg for a benzo, sobbing, which was denied because their philosophy was that Xanax is "just the same as" alcohol. It caused unbreable agitation and the emotion of intense anxiety...in my LEGS. It was just awful, and had it not gone away I would had to be injected with heavy narcotics to survive it. As soon as I could I stalked out and bought a bottle of wine on the way home.