A pair of researchers who were sponsored by the American Lung Association re-analyzed data from patients who had participated in Singulair clinical trials for signs indicating a link between the Merck drug and emotional well-being. And they report not finding any, according to anALA statement.
Last March, you may recall, the FDA announced it was reviewing links to suicide and depression after receiving reports of mood and behavior changes, suicidal thinking and suicide in patients who took the drug, which is used to treat stuffy nose, sneezing and other allergy symptoms as well as asthma. A definite link hasn’t been established, but the agency asked Merck to evaluate its data for more info.
"The value of this 'look back' study is that the investigators were able to compare a large group of patients given (Singulair) with those given a placebo, making a firm scientific conclusion possible," Norman Edelman, the ALA's chief medical officer says in the statement.
Singulair was Merck's biggest seller last year with sales reaching $4.3 billion a 19 percent increase. The drugmaker revised the drug's prescribing info in the past year to include reports of tremors, depression, suicide and anxiousness.