dvanden said: "I think the FDA has failed because it does not require any long term testing of the effects of anti depressants yet you are often told you should take them for extended periods. Its kind of half ass, but maybe the cost of long term trials is so expensive that they do not feel pharmaceutical companies should have to endure them. In my opinion that is where the problem is."
I think the FDA could be more honest about it though. They could simply say "this drug has been tested on this many people over this period of time, so we don't really know what happens after that".
Actually, what they really should do, and it wouldn't cost much, is require all psychiatrists to encourage all their patients to report all their experiences to a central database for an extended period of time. It would be a much more effective, expedient way of learning what the effects really are in actual practice.
They should also require drug-makers to provide plausible explanations for specific side-effects. Just saying "5 people experienced this" is not useful for looking at potential long-term problems.
Sorry for hijacking.