The surprise warning issued by the Food and Drug Administration last week that people taking antidepressants can become suicidal and should be closely monitored probably came as a shock to the millions of Americans who take these pills. It's important to understand what the advisory means--and doesn't mean--and not to overreact.
The FDA didn't tell people taking the drugs to stop cold turkey--that can be dangerous. Nor did it tell doctors to stop writing prescriptions for depressed patients. What the agency did say was that in the first few weeks after a patient starts taking an antidepressant, or when the...
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