Drug companies are being asked to pay special attention to a possible increase in suicidal thoughts in people who volunteer for clinical trials.
The issue first gained prominence around four years ago, when it emerged that some antidepressants seemed to increase the risk of suicide in young people. That prompted the US Food and Drug Administration to make more use of a psychological test designed to assess suicide risk in people taking part in clinical trials. According to reports in The New York Times last week, the FDA is now asking manufacturers of drugs for everything from obesity and urinary incontinence to epilepsy and smoking cessation to use the test in clinical trials.
“People taking part in clinical trials are being given a test to assess their risk of suicide”
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The FDA confirmed the test is being used more widely, although it claims that this is not the result of a sudden change in policy. Spokesman Chris DiFrancesco said decisions about the test are made on a case by case basis, but it might be used if existing data suggested that a drug had a psychiatric effect, or if drugs related to the one under study had shown an increased risk of suicide, for example.
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