Anti-depressant Drugs: November 2006 Archives

HealthDay News -- A group representing America's obstetricians is recommending that women avoid the antidepressant Paxil if they are pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant, due to a potential heightened risk for birth defects.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) also cautioned that treatment with other antidepressants should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

ACOG's Committee on Obstetric Practice "recommends that treatment with all SSRIs [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors] or selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors or both during pregnancy be individualized and paroxetine [Paxil] use among pregnant women or women planning to become pregnant be avoided, if possible," read the statement, which is in the December issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Police are hunting for a man, whom they believe gives people a lethal blend of two anti-depressant prescription drugs, following the deaths of two men in Sydney.

A third possible victim might have survived.

Authorities are describing the deaths as "suspicious", rather than murder.

The combination of the drugs can bring on a potentially fatal condition referred to as serotonin syndrome, which can cause blood-clots in the brain, kidney failure, hallucinations and comas.