Citation

Healy D, Mangin D, Mintzes B. Int. J. Risk Saf. Med. 2010; 22(1): 7-16.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.3233/JRS-2010-0487

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In recent years, a number of authors have advocated the merits of conducting randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of antidepressants in women with nervous disorders during the prenatal period. However, a critical review of the literature indicates RCTs are not justifiable. At a time when it has become clear that a significant proportion of the existing literature on the use of pharmaceutical agents is ghostwritten, ethicists and others making assertions that RCTs are needed risk becoming part of an apparatus that plays down the hazards of treatment and promotes the use of treatments that may be harmful. © 2010 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

human; suicide; Pregnancy; depression; prevalence; randomized controlled trial; Antidepressants; major depression; clinical trial; medical ethics; risk factor; pregnancy; review; Miscarriage; antidepressant agent; paroxetine; serotonin uptake inhibitor; tricyclic antidepressant agent; controlled clinical trial; electroconvulsive therapy; placebo; benzodiazepine derivative; mother child relation; antihistaminic agent; teratogenesis; congenital heart malformation; fetus monitoring; Birth defects; congenital blood vessel malformation; Ghost-writing