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Story: Most Antidepressants
Deemed Unsafe in Children, 4/26/04
Reading Comprehension Questions: 1. Why is the Lancet study significant?
2. What did the Lancet study conclude? What impacted this conclusion considerably?
3. How did the drug companies respond to the Lancet study?
4. What is depression and how many children and adolescents suffer from it?
5. What is one biological sign that researchers think is associated with depression? What have they created to help with this? How do they work?
6. What are "off-label" prescriptions and why are they important in understanding the antidepressant debate?
7. How have different government agencies in different countries reacted to the antidepressant debate?
Discussion Activity (more research might be needed): 1. If you were a parent with a depressed teenage child would you allow your child to take antidepressants? Under what circumstances? Why or why not? 2. Should "off-label" prescription use be allowed? Why or why not? What are the implications of stopping them? 3. Should drug companies have to share all data from clinical studies about their products with outside researchers? Why or why not? How might research sponsored by a drug company be different from research sponsored by a government agency like the FDA? Write a 300-500 word essay on any of these topics providing clear examples. Send your completed editorial to NewsHour Extra [extra@newshour.org]. Exceptional essays might be published on our Web site. |