HealthDay (2/3, Preidt) reported, "Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may significantly reduce the risk of attempted or completed suicide in depressed adults, according to a review of eight large-scale observational studies." In the review, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers from the World Health Organization and the University of Verona in Italy assessed "whether SSRIs reduced or increased the risk of suicide in depressed people." Researchers noted, "While the FDA found a neutral effect of SSRIs (or a promoting effect in adults aged 18-25), we found a strong protective effect associated with SSRI treatment in adults."

        "A commentary accompanying the study called for randomized trials to determine the safety and effectiveness of depression treatments in young adults to help guide doctors," CBC News (2/4) reports. John Mann, M.D., of Columbia University and Robert Gibbons, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois, wrote that it was alarming that "concerns about the risk of suicide in youth have led not only to fewer SSRI prescriptions without substitution of alternative medications or psychotherapies, but also to a decrease in predicted rates of diagnosis of mood disorders." Psych Central (2/3, Nauert) also covered the story.