Cymbalta gets Mixed Reception

Eli Lilly's antidepressant Cymbalta is a versitile medication approved to treat depression and certain types of pain. The company hopes that it has found a money-maker, since It's flagship antidepressant Prozac is now available in a cheaper generic version. Cymbalta (duloxetine) is one of a new class of antidepressants that targets both serotonin and norepinephrine. Cymbalta was also the first antidepressant to hit the market since the FDA began studying whether antidepressants can increase the risk of suicide, particularly when used by adolescents.

In February 2004 a college student taking part in a study of Cymbalta hanged herself in a company research facility. Lilly assures us that there's no evidence that Cymbalta was to blame. FDA studies seem to support this. The research reportedly found that there were no difference in the rate between users of the drug and those given a placebo.

Cymbalta's label does include the same warning that is on other antidepressants. Doctors and families are advised to closely watch patients for warning signs of suicide - including agitation, anxiety or hostility - especially when they first start the medication or the dose is changed.

Other facts:

• The FDA approved Cymbalta to treat major depression for up to nine weeks.
• In one study Cymbalta users were almost three times as likely to achieve relief of depression as patients given a placebo.
• Cymbalta is approved to treat the pain from diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
• Cymbalta's wholesale price started at almost $3.00 a day, similar to other new antidepressants.
• Cymbalta may also be marketed as a treatment for stress urinary incontinence.

Cymbalta/Yentreve (Duloxetine) severe side-effects

In previous Cymbalta (duloxetine) trials, five individuals committed suicide, amongst them Traci Johnson, 19, a healthy volunteer with no recent history of depression. Cymbalta (Yentreve, duloxetine) is most closely related to Wyeth's SSNRI Effexor/Efexor (venlafaxine).

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In a display of arrogance and defiance, in the midst of federal investigations into the marketing & safety of antidepressants, the FDA has approved Eli Lilly's antidepression, stress urinary incontinence & diabetic nerve pain drug, Cymbalta (Yentreve, Xeristar, Duloxetine), regardless serious risk of liver toxicity, risk of suicide & self-harm and risk of violent behavior in children and adults. Lilly's press release announced:

"Cymbalta, a balanced and potent reuptake inhibitor of serotonin and norepinephrine."

Cymbalta (Yentreve, duloxetine) acts on both norepinephrine and serotonin receptors, much like the old tricyclic antidepressants do. Cymbalta (Yentreve, duloxetine) is most closely related to the SSNRI Effexor (venlafaxine), Wyeth's antidepressant. In earlier clinical trials, Cymbalta (Yentreve, duloxetine) had failed to demonstrate its effectiveness as an antidepressant and there were four participants who had committed suicide whilst taking Cymbalta (Yentreve, duloxetine). Traci Johnson, 19, a healthy volunteer with no recent history of depression, joined a later trial in early January 2004. She was the fifth participant who committed suicide on the 7th of February 2004, by hanging herself in Lilly Laboratory for Clinical Research. She initially had been given Cymbalta (Yentreve, duloxetine) but, at the time of her death, had been taking a placebo for four days.  Another SSNRI, Effexor (venlafaxine), which is most closely related to the Lilly SSNRI Cymbalta (Yentreve, duloxetine), has listed side-effects such as:

akathisia & mania, delirium, hallucinations and paranoid delusion, following use or discontinuation of the drug.

What could have happened to Traci Johnson? With the latest knowledge regarding severe withdrawal reactions that are repeatedly being observed in SSRI/SSNRI discontinuation, as reported by physicians in Effexor, it is not difficult to understand that Traci Johnson suffered from severe withdrawal reactions after discontinuation of Cymbalta (Yentreve, duloxetine).

 

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