FDA Responds to Barton, Greenwood Inquiry on Antidepressant Use

WASHINGTON (April 15) - Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today issued the following statement upon receiving the Food and Drug Administration's response to a March 24 letter from the committee seeking information on the use of antidepressants by children:

"Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman James Greenwood (R-PA), has been dogged in his pursuit of the antidepressant issue, and in response to our letter, the FDA admits important facts for the first time.

"FDA's primary medical reviewer believed that the available data were sufficient to conclude an association exists between the use of antidepressants and suicidal behavior in children. He also recommended that action occur without further delay, although others at FDA disagreed with his recommendation. There are troubling questions of whether FDA supervisors inappropriately suppressed significant information that would have been of consequence to their own advisory committee, not to mention the public.

"The Committee will pursue these questions and, given the public interest in resolving this matter, a hearing is one potential means by which to gather further information."