'GPs giving too many pills for depression'

Medical experts are set to claim today that anti-depressants are being vastly over-prescribed in Britain.

The Government's drugs regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), will outline the findings of a review on the suitability of drugs such as Seroxat and Prozac.

The announcement will be made as guidelines to the NHS on the treatment of depression and anxiety are published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice).

The two bodies are to advise people with mild to moderate depression or anxiety to seek alternative treatment to the drugs, known as SSRIs (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors), such as therapy or daily exercise, according to The Observer.

The MHRA has concluded that GPs prescribe powerful pills unnecessarily to hundreds of thousands of people who do not have a serious clinical condition.

Seroxat, the best-selling antidepressant in the UK, is not suitable for every patient suffering from mild to moderate anxiety, experts are expected to say. Professor-Kent Woods, chief executive-of the MHRA and Nice's chief executive Andrew Dillon, are to make the announcement at a press conference.

A spokesman for the MHRA said the review covered all aspects of treating depression. A Nice spokesman said its guidelines would recommend best practice for the treatment of depression.

About 13 million prescriptions are written for SSRIs every year in Britain. The drugs became popular over the past 10 years because they are considered safer than the older drugs. But concerns about them have emerged in recent years.