Yesterday, Broadstreet’s Karissa Johnston was asked by the CBC to comment on a new study that suggested
that some commonly prescribed drugs could have adverse events leading to depression or even suicide. The study (which nether Karissa nor Broadstreet were involved in) looked at hypertension drugs, hormonal birth control and analgesics, among others, and found that risk increased when people were taking more than one of these at the same time. Because these drugs are widely prescribed, it’s understandable that these findings might be cause for concern.

Karissa was able to provide listeners with reassurance, pointing out that the study did not determine whether participants had depression prior to beginning the medication and that most of the medications on the list did not have strong proven links to causing depression. She added that she thought studies like this were a good reminder to people to talk to their doctor or pharmacist about potential side effects of the medication they are taking and to make sure someone, doctor or pharmacist, is aware of all the medications they are taking and can be alert to potential interactions.

Listen to the full interview on the CBC Early Edition website (begins around the 2 minute mark)

The study in question was:

Qato DM, Ozenberger K, Olfson M. Prevalence of Prescription Medications With Depression as a Potential Adverse Effect Among Adults in the United States. JAMA. 2018;319(22):2289–2298. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.6741