This is just one example of why I have characterized the FDA's actions as criminal. Once again, the agency has chosen to protect the interests of the pharmaceutical industry at the expense of public health. Can you imagine how loudly the FDA would have trumpeted the news if an herb was found to increase suicides?
Today, it is well known around the world that SSRIs (antidepressants) increase the risk of suicides in children and teenagers. In the UK, doctors are now warned to avoid prescribing such medications to children, but in the United States, no such warnings are required by the FDA. In fact, both the FDA and the drug companies manufacturing SSRIs continue to deny any link between their drugs and suicides.
But it's not just suicides: I believe these drugs also cause violent killings. The two high school students who gunned down their classmates at Colombine were both on SSRI drugs. The wife of Phil Hartman, who committed a murder-suicide, was also taking them. In fact, there's a long list of people who commit bizarre mass-killings while on antidepressant drugs. That's one fact the FDA hopes you never find out.
Obviously, the drug companies just want to keep on selling more drugs to depressed people. They can hide the violent side effects of their drug in the patient's own behavior, saying, "Well, they committed suicide because they were depressed!" But in reality, an increasing number of people are committing suicide because of the drugs. I wonder how many more people will die in the United States while the FDA continues to conceal this information from the public...