Just as the patent is about to run out for Prozac, we learn that this worldwide topselling antidepressant isn’t any more effective than its competitors, Paxil and Zoloft. These three popular antidepressants, all from the same drug class, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), were shown to be of similar effectiveness in a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, 12/19/01).
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A Prozac price war is predicted by at least one generic drug maker. Approximately 30 current and tentative approvals for generic Prozac (fluoxetine) were entered on the Food and Drug Administration’s drug applications list as of early this month. One fluoxetine maker, Teva, said it expects a price war to ensue with Barr Laboratories and other generic makers of Prozac.
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IN THE BIBLICAL story, God tests his faithful servant Job to see whether Job will stay devoted to God even if God takes everything away from him. Now you don’t lose your family, health and possessions, as Job did, without falling into a terrible funk. It’s possible, then, to understand Job’s story as being about remaining true to God through a devastating depression. Suppose that Job had had a prescription for Prozac to help lessen his pain. Would it have been cheating to take a couple of tablets a day while God was tossing all manner of pestilence at him?
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