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The September 8, 2004 edition of USA Today featured a report stating that scientific advisers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are expected to recommend tougher warning labels or additional restrictions on antidepressants linked to suicidal behavior in children. The article highlighted that more than 1 million children in the U.S. currently take these types of medications.

The report also noted that an analysis of previous studies confirmed that children on antidepressants may be nearly twice as likely to become suicidal as those given placebo pills. Dr. Graham Emslie, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, remarked, “They’re going to have to do something. The horror stories have been just too horrible, and their advisory committee is going to be influenced.”

During a U.S. Food and Drug Administration hearing in February of 2004, dozens of parents testified that antidepressants had caused their children to take their own lives. The USA Today article further mentioned that some psychiatrists argue that, in real-world medical practice, children with minor adjustment problems are often prescribed antidepressants. Many doctors believe that, in certain cases, these drugs can trigger a frenzied, impulsive agitation that may lead to suicide.