The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday proposed that the manufacturers of anti-depressant drugs should include a suicide warning on all anti-depressant medication labels for adults aged 18-24, who are considered at an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior after consuming the drugs.

The FDA said the labels, which already include similar warnings for children and adolescents, should also warn young-adult consumers about a risk of developing suicidal thoughts during initial treatment, generally in the first one to two months

Contrary to the popular belief, authors of a new study now suggest that antidepressant drugs do more good than harm to children and teenagers. There have been many instances when parents blamed antidepressants for the suicides of their depressed children and many studies showed that drugs might promote suicidal thoughts.

It prompted the Food and Drug Administration to send out a warning to doctors and also in 2004, the FDA called for "black box" warning labels on antidepressants. However, many experts believe that after the warning to curb the use of antidepressants, there was a sudden surge in U.S. youth suicides that was blamed on reluctance to try antidepressants

The number of people buying prescription drugs rose 8.3 percent last year to $274.9 billion, mainly attributed to the Medicare drug benefit, increased use of generic medicines and new treatments for diseases such as cancer and diabetes. According to the report released late Thursday by IMS Health, the drug sales growth is however expected to dampen a bit in 2007.

As the Medicare drug benefit is annualized and more generic products enter the market, it is anticipated that the drug sales will remain in a compounded annual rate of between 6 percent and 9 percent through 2010

Treatment with antidepressants may increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in adults age 24 and younger, a U.S. advisory panel has said. However, the use of drugs in treating depression and protecting against suicidal behavior has found to be effective beyond age 30.

The panel chaired by Dr. Daniel Pine agreed with a FDA analysis which found that short-term use of the newest antidepressants seemed to increase the chances of suicidal behavior in adults up to age 25, while it appeared to reduce the suicidal thoughts in older adults

A new study finds that mild sadness may trigger a major depressive episode. However, relapse is more likely in patients who are taking antidepressants than those who underwent cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

University of Toronto researcher Zindel V. Segal and his colleagues say that people who have recovered from major depression are more at risk for relapse