Not All Depressed People Are on the Verge of Suicide, but Drug May Push Some Over Edge

I am writing because of a misconception in “Star Drug Prozac Becomes Lilly Liability” (July 28.)

Business analyst Rita Freedman is quoted as saying: “I view the lawsuits themselves as a non-event. . . . There really is no scientific basis for the complaint. People who are depressed are suicidal anyway.” The quote seems to imply that all depressed people are suicidal. Are all people who are depressed suicidal? No. Some are and some aren’t. The point of Dr. Martin Teicher’s research was that some depressed patients became suicidal after they took Prozac. And that doctors prescribing and patients taking Prozac should be aware of this side effect.

I’m afraid that many people will be left the false impression that all depressed people are on the verge of suicide. Someone should inform Freedman that her field of expertise is business not psychiatry.

THOMAS RISHER

Whittier