They're not all the same (even if the FDA says they are).
In 2008, the FDA issued an alert about the increased suicide risk with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in epilepsy patients, based on a meta-analysis that did not determine differential risk of individual AEDs. Now, researchers have conducted a nested case-control study within a cohort of 44,300 epilepsy patients prescribed AEDs between 1989 and 2005 to examine risk in four drug categories — barbiturates, conventional AEDs, “new” AEDs with low potential for causing depression (lamotrigine, gabapentin, pregabalin, oxcarbazepine), and new AEDs with high depression potential (levetiracetam, tiagabine, topiramate, vigabatrin). The 453 cases with occurrence of self-harm or suicidal behavior (defined by codes in U.K. electronic medical records) were m…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)