Campaigning on Seroxat and other SSRI antidepressants – a chronology

March 2008

• Government proposal for new legislation requiring pharmaceutical companies to make results of all drug studies available to the regulator, in response to the failure of Glaxo Smith Kline to reveal their findings on the negative effects of Seroxat in children to the MHRA.
  Guardian article 
  MHRA press release
  Mind press release 

January, 2007

• Panorama: Secrets of the drugs trials
  further programme about how some of the results of trials of Seroxat were kept hidden.

March 2005

• Publication of the House of Commons Health Committee Report, The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry, volume 1 and volume 2.

March 2004

• At a House of Commons debate Newport West MP Paul Flynn and Gloucester MP Parmjit Dhanda join Mind in calling for greater transparency in drugs regulation and action against drugs companies withholding data
• Richard Brook tells the MHRA that he will resign if they do not release a warning that there is no benefit in Seroxat doses above 20mg.
• The Government issues warning that there is no benefit in doses above 20mg of Seroxat.
• The US Food and Drug Administration issues a warning that people taking antidepressants should be monitored for worsening depression or suicidal thoughts that might be a result of the drug. This warning has not (yet) been given by the MHRA in the UK.
• Richard Brook, Mind's Chief Executive resigns from the MHRA expert group on SSRIs stating that continued membership is incompatible with Mind's remit to represent the interests of mental health service users. He reveals that the MHRA had the data on which this latest warning was based for over a decade as part of the company's original licence application.

February 2004

• Mind calls for full, independent and open review of the medicines regulatory process, in wake of evidence that Glaxo SmithKline held back unfavourable trails on the effect of the anti-depressant Seroxat on children.

January 2004

• Mind's response to the MHRA's consultation on access to yellow card data about drug side effects calls for open access to aggregated data, and wider use of anonymised records by researchers operating under ethical guidelines.

December 2003

• Four more antidepressants are removed as treatment options for children and adolescents after the review group concludes that they do not help children with depression and can lead to harmful side effects. Mind welcomes the announcement butstates that this is another significant piece of evidence demonstrating that the regulatory framework and processes used in the United Kingdom by the MHRA to regulate the drugs industry are flawed and do not put consumers' interests first.

September 2003

• MHRA advises against the use of Seroxat for depression by under 18 year olds, based on information supplied by the manufacturer, and against venlafaxine, another antidepressant.

May 2003

• Second Panorama programme 'Emails from the Edge' on Seroxat includes report of the survey, to which 239 people responded. It showed widespread experiences of suicidal feelings and other severe reactions, very bad withdrawal and lack of warnings from doctors.
• Following the broadcast users/survivors and Mind protest outside the offices of the MHRA.
• A letter from Richard Brook, Mind's chief executive is delivered to Professor Alastair Breckenridge, chair of MHRA.
• Meetings held with ministers, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK, manufacturer) and MHRA.
• Richard Brook joins expert group set up by the MHRA to review the safety of SSRIs.
• Early Day Motion in Parliament expressing concern about Seroxat.

October 2002

• BBC Panorama broadcast 'Secrets of Seroxat' which draws attention to the risks of suicide and withdrawal reactions. 65,000 people call the BBC helpline and 1,300 people email Panorama. Mind collaborates with Panorama in a survey of those who emailed the programme. Anonymised findings from the 239 responses are sent to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

1990s

• Growing evidence and concerns about the adverse effects of SSRIs and the withdrawal effects of Seroxat in particular. This is particularly influenced by the Prozac and Seroxat User Groups, high media profile court cases, Mind's yellow card scheme, Charles Medawar's Antidepressant Web paper about SSRI dependence, and work by Dr David Healy.

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