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Hosted by: Dick Gordon
Show Originally Aired: 2/5/2004 CALL 1 800-423-TALK
Medicating America's Kids
Teri Williams' son Jacob committed suicide at age 14 while on antidepressant drugs. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Email to friend
Zoloft, Prozac and Paxil are just a few of the drugs that have become common household names in America. This is a pill-popping nation and children are fast becoming a key part of the pharmaceutical market.
Each year nearly 11million prescriptions for antidepressants are written for children. These drugs save lives, that's not being debated. But at hearings in Washington this week, dozens of parents told stories of antidepressants making their children more violent, even suicidal.
The British government, looking at suicide in its drug trials has told its doctors not to medicate children with most antidepressants on the market. The FDA is now doing its own investigation . Anti-depressants. Are they a chance at a better life, or do they raise the risk of losing it?
