STAT (8/28, Robbins) reports the FDA “has been quietly pressuring a handful of companies to stop reporting results to patients about how their genes may interact with specific drugs.” The agency is concerned that “amid a boom in genetic testing that aims to predict a person’s response to medication,…unsupported claims about gene-drug links could be dangerous, if they spur patients to start, stop, or switch medications in ways that aren’t appropriate.” The article highlights several examples of companies that have fallen under the FDA’s new scrutiny of pharmacogenetic testing.

Related Links:

— “FDA warns testing companies: Don’t tell patients how their DNA influences response to specific drugs, “Rebecca Robbins, STAT, August 28, 2019

The Wall Street Journal (8/28, Petersen, Subscription Publication) reports physicians are increasingly concerned that patients taking antidepressants may be subjecting themselves to unnecessary side effects and risks over the long term. Research indicated that people taking such medications were at a 14 percent higher risk of strokes and heart attacks, and a 33 percent higher risk of death.

Related Links:

— “New Concerns Emerge About Long-Term Antidepressant Use, “Andrea Petersen, The Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2019

Reuters (8/28, Emery) reports, “The combined results of 61 studies conducted in 19 countries suggest that when a woman gives birth by cesarean section, autism in the child is 33% more likely and the odds of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (AD/HD) “increase by 17%.” The findings of the systematic review and meta-analysis were published online in JAMA Network Open.

According to Healio (8/28, Demko), even though investigators “reported similar estimates for some other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric outcomes – including intellectual disabilities, obsessive-compulsive disorders, tic disorders and eating disorders – the associations were not statistically significant, possibly due to the limited number of studies.

Related Links:

— “Possible link between C-section and autism, ADHD, “Gene Emery, Reuters, August 28, 2019

Psychiatric News (8/28) reports, “As the percentage of U.S. adults older than 65 years continues to grow, so too does the need for preventing mental illness among older adults as well as improving clinical services and outcomes for older patients with psychiatric disorders,” posited “psychiatrists Warren D. Taylor, M.D., M.H.Sc., of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Charles F. Reynolds III, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh in” a viewpoint published online Aug. 28 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Psychiatrists Offer Recommendations to Help Older Adults With Mental Disorders, Psychiatric News, August 28, 2019

Healio (8/27, Demko) reports, “Differences between individuals with autism and those without have lessened over time, which may be tied to changes in diagnostic practices,” researchers concluded in an 11-study meta-analysis that “included data on 27,723 individuals.” The findings were published online Aug. 21 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Effect sizes of studies comparing individuals with, without autism decrease over time, “Savannah Demko, Healio, August 27, 2019