RIYADH, 10 May — A major antidepressant, “Prozac”, taken by thousands of patients in Saudi Arabia and administered on over 40 million people worldwide to treat mental disorders, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders and bulimia nervosa, does not stimulate the growth of brain tumors, according to a prominent psychiatrist Dr. Mona Al-Sawwaf, working with the Saudi Ministry of Health.
Hence there is no need of a re-evaluation of the drug’s long-term safety.
“The results of Prozac on patients is the same or may be better than the conventional treatment by tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) in addition to its lower side effects, lower incidence of drug interaction and compliance to the patient,” said Dr. Al-Sawwaf, while referring to a misleading report about the adverse effects of Prozac published in Arab News on March 27.
Referring to the report as “unfounded” and full of factual errors, Stefan Jentzsch and Mohammed Haggag of the local chapter of Eli Lilly, Prozac makers, said that Prozac was initially approved for the treatment of depression in Belgium in 1986 and in the US in 1987.
Since then, it has been approved and marketed in more than 90 countries including Saudi Arabia.
“The safety and effectiveness of Prozac have been thoroughly studied in clinical trials with more than 11,000 patients,” they said.
Saudi Arabia is one of the major countries where Prozac is widely prescribed for patients, said Maged Rowaizak, another expert of neuroscience, here today.
In US alone, Prozac, often called as “happiness pill” is used by over 14 million Americans today. Rowaizak said that this drug and its manufacturer, in fact, have played a major role in promoting the initiatives undertaken by several countries of the Arab world to develop mental health programs.
Asked about views on Prozac, Dr. Al-Sawwaf said that “from my experience with thousands of patients taking Prozac and other selective serotinin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in Saudi Arabia, I didn’t find any evidence that Prozac is linked to brain tumor.”
Similar views were echoed by a group of consultant psychiatrists of other hospitals. A consultant working at Riyadh-based King Khaled University Hospital Dr. Rabie A.
Hawari also said in a report published recently that Prozac is a better drug for depression, panic disorders and social phobias.
