Nevada Silver and Blue - University of Nevada, Reno

On Campus
Antonuccio challenges antidepressant hype
By John Wheeler
David Antonuccio has some remarkable
things to say about the drug
industry and, in particular, the efficacy of
its number one product: antidepressants.
In a nutshell, the University of Nevada
School of Medicine professor of psychiatry
and behavioral sciences says: antidepressant
drug effects may be far smaller
than touted and side effects far greater;
there’s no persuasive evidence that a
deficiency of brain serotonin causes
depression (the rationale for using most
antidepressants); financial and political
interests have biased research and
medical education; and psychotherapy
appears to be as effective as antidepressants
in treating depression and even
better at preventing relapse.
In an article in the December issue of
the journal American Psychologist, cowritten
with School of Medicine colleague
William Danton and Terry Michael
McClanahan of Permanente Medical
Group, Antonuccio details the extent of
the pharmaceutical industry’s influence on
medicine and proposes practical steps that
could be taken to preserve the credibility
and integrity of scientific research.
“I don’t think the word has gotten out
about this wealth of data showing the
small advantage of these medications,”
Antonuccio says.
For example, Antonuccio says somewhere
between 20 percent and 35
Photo by Jean Dixon
4 Nevada Silver & Blue • March/April 2004
percent of antidepressant studies are not
published, and of those, it looks like as
many as 90 percent may have unfavorable
or neutral results.
In other words, many studies show
antidepressants are no better than a
placebo and get buried by the drug
companies. Antonuccio is able to track
these unpublished studies through the
Food and Drug Administration’s database.
The FDA requires submission of all
research data, but doesn’t require
publication. Data analysis such as this is
Antonuccio’s stock in trade. His conclusions,
although based on meticulously
documented analysis — often drawn
from drug companies’ own data — are
not always welcomed, even within his
own profession.
“One of the reasons might be that the
beliefs that are challenged by the data I
present are strongly held and it’s
upsetting that things might be different
than people have believed for so long,”
he says. “Fortunately, I work in a department
and at a medical school that
celebrates scientific curiosity and
intellectual diversity.”
Antidepressants are the top selling
drug category, with as many as one in
eight adult Americans having taken one
in the last 10 years.
“One of the theories is that depression
is a chemical imbalance,” Antonuccio says.
Photo by Jean Dixon
David Antonuccio, professor of
psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
“But ... there’s no convincing data that
show any sort of biological imbalance
causes depression. That’s not to say there
are not chemical changes associated with
depression and there may be immune
system changes. We have to carefully
think about making the logical leap that
because something is associated with
depression or anxiety, it is actually the
cause of it.”
An expanded version of this story can be
found on the university Web site: http://
www.unr.edu/nevadanews/
detail.asp?id=800
Rockin’ for a good cause
in Las Vegas
On hand for a recent gala concert at the Mirage
featuring the Eagles to benefit the Nevada Cancer
Institute: (left to right) Master of Ceremonies Larry
King, University of Nevada President John Lilley and
Gerrie Lilley. The gala, “Rock for the Cure,” raised $2.6
million toward the institute, which is currently under
construction in Las Vegas. Eight Nevada faculty
currently hold adjunct positions at the institute, which
aims to eventually have facilities in both Las Vegas and
Reno. When built, the non-profit institute will be the
state’s first comprehensive cancer research and
treatment center.
— John Wheeler