Nearly one in five pregnant women and new moms in this country suffers from anxiety and depression. And 6-8% of pregnant women are prescribed a group of antidepressants called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs).
But a recent expert panel organized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cast doubt on the safety of SSRIs — even though these drugs are largely considered safe by healthcare providers.
Those comments have sparked a swath of criticism from a number of prominent medical societies.
“Untreated or undertreated depression during pregnancy carries health risks, such as suicide, preterm birth, preeclampsia, and low birth weight,” the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine wrote in a statement late last month. “Unfortunately, misinformation about depression and its treatment creates confusion and doubt among patients and the public leading to unnecessary barriers to care.”
Opening the panel discussion on FDA on July 21, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said that SSRIs have been “implicated” by studies to be involved in a range of health effects, including pulmonary hypertension and cardiac defects in babies. Then a majority of the panelists, including psychiatrists, psychologists and a social work professor, cited studies they said illustrate serious health risks, like miscarriage and autism.
Several groups of healthcare providers, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the National Curriculum for Reproductive Psychiatry have spoken out against many of the claims made by the panel, saying that it misrepresented evidence and spread misinformation.