Off-label antidepressant use not backed by science –study

Most off-label use of antidepressants is not backed by evidence that the drugs will work as intended, scientists said Wednesday.

Many medications approved for the treatment of depression are prescribed by doctors for other problems such as pain, insomnia or migraine headaches.

But only a small fraction of such "off-label" treatments have been tested for efficacy and side-effects, researchers reported in the medical journal BMJ.

Giving adult medication to children, or in doses different from those tested in clinical trials and specified by drug-makers, are also considered off-label uses.

The study found that about a third of antidepressants are prescribed for conditions other than depression. 

"This is probably the tip of the iceberg," said lead author Jenna Wong, a researcher at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

"There is a lot of off-label use going on, but we don't have good ways of tracking it," especially when antidepressants are taken to treat other conditions, she told AFP. — Agence France-Presse