THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9608030008
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 32 lines
``Anti-depressants' effectiveness with children is unclear'' (Daily Break, July 16) misquoted me and totally missed the mark.
I am not a child psychiatrist. I am a psychopharmacologist and learned how to prescribe anti-depressants to children in my residency 23 years ago. I've been doing it safely ever since.
FDA approval for medication is a huge, expensive, bureaucratic hoop for the pharmaceutical industry. Oftentimes for economic reasons, the industry chooses not to seek FDA approval. FDA approval does not guarantee safety.
Physicians prescribe many medications daily that are not FDA approved. Only two medications are FDA approved for panic disorder, Xanax and recently Paxil. However, all benzodiazepine tranquilizers (Valium, Librium, Ativan, Tranxene, etc.) are effective. The most effective medication, Nardil, is not FDA approved, nor is Klonapin, an anti-seizure medication. I could go on and on, but I think the point is made.
A physician has to be aware of the research articles being published and use them as well as FDA approval in order to treat disease in the most-effective manner possible.
There are literally hundreds of medical articles written over the past 30 years that indicate anti-depressant use in children is safe and effective when prescribed by a well-trained physician.
You have published some well-balanced articles about psychiatry, but this one belongs in the tabloid trash can.
ABBOT LEE GRANOFF, M.D.
Norfolk, July 16, 1996 by CNB