antidepressants

They call it the Great "Recession," but there's no question that these are depressing times. And doctors are writing scripts for antidepressants at an alarming rate -- especially given that many of these doctors aren't psychiatrists. What are the effects on patients who haven't been properly screened?

From October 2010 to February 2011, biotech Clinical Data's stock doubled, mostly thanks to FDA approval of its novel antidepressant. But also pushing the stock up -- and making it likely to perhaps double again -- is speculation that a Big Pharma will buy Clinical Data.

Eli Lilly's blockbuster antidepressant Cymbalta can now also be marketed as a treatment for chronic musculoskeletal pain, such as osteoarthritis and lower back pain, following FDA approval yesterday.

Tiny biotech Clinical Data has developed a potential blockbuster called Vilazodone. If OK'd, it would be the first new depression treatment in 15 years. Its potential is so huge that several Big Pharmas may be looking to buy the startup.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said Tuesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its generic version of Pfizer's antidepressant Effexor XR, or Venlafaxine.

An FDA "bioequivalent" certification doesn't exempt generic drugmakers from responsibility for their medication's safety, a judge has ruled. Teva Pharmaceuticals had been sued for the problems its version of antidepressant Wellbutrin has caused users.

The government is lifting a 70-year-old ban on letting pilots fly while on antidepressants, citing improvements in the drugs and an unforeseen side effect of the restriction: Depressed pilots kept flying but just kept their conditions secret.

It was just at the end of October that the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study which found that children taking the latest generation of antipsychotic drugs gain significant amounts of weight -- as much as 18.7 pounds on average in just 11 weeks. Young people taking Eli...