Warning of ‘suicide risk’ from commonly prescribed drug – and kids may be more at risk

According to regulators, a medication used to treat asthma in children can result in hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, and other mental health issues.

According to research supported by the US government, montelukast attaches to brain cells that regulate mood, attention, and decision-making.

Thousands of tragic accounts from families of children using montelukast served as the impetus for the new study.

Among them was Melbourne, Australia’s Harrison Sellick, who attempted suicide when he was just five years old.

Another was Harry Miller of London, England, who took the asthma medication and committed suicide in 2018 at the age of 14.

According to NHS data, the medication montelukast, commonly referred to as Singulair, was prescribed more than four million times in the UK in 2022.

A minimum of 35,000 of these were youngsters, according to the Montelukast UK action group.

Approximately 12 million Americans take montelukast, with 1.6 million of those individuals being children under the age of 18.

Children as young as six months old are routinely administered the 25-year-old drug, which is intended to treat the symptoms of asthma.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that since 1998, montelukast has been connected to 82 suicides in the United States.

Additionally, the medication has been linked to agitation, anxiety, sadness, nightmares, and even complete psychosis.

The number of suicides in the UK that are attributed to montelukast is unknown.

Nonetheless, since 1998, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the United Kingdom has received around 1,205 reports of psychiatric side effects associated with the medication.

Nearly half (551) of these affected youngsters younger than nine.

The Yellow Card program, which enables patients and medical professionals to report bad reactions, was used to submit the complaints.

The medicine’s box in the US and Europe bears a black box label, which is the strongest indication that the drug may cause death or severe harm.

There is currently no such warning on the montelukast boxes in the UK or Australia.

More prominent warnings of the drug’s potential side effects are being called for by the montelukast UK action group.

The MHRA announced in March that the medication is being reviewed.

In September 2019, the MHRA released a significant safety alert that emphasized the possibility of neuropsychiatric responses.

According to the statement, these may include obsessive-compulsive symptoms and speech difficulties.

Some children have reported experiencing hallucinations; one child claimed to have seen dissolving walls and red-eyed devils.

According to the NHS, the medication’s significant adverse effects include mood swings, despair, violence, and suicidal thoughts.

‘It’s definitely doing something that’s concerning’

During this week’s annual meeting of the American College of Toxicology, the FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research presented fresh findings.

They validated previous allegations that the asthma medication montelukast caused mental health problems in certain people.

Although the exact effects of the medication on brain cells are still unknown, Stanford neurology researcher Julia Marschallinger stated: “It’s definitely doing something that’s concerning.”

The FDA looked into why montelukast might cause adverse effects like depression, anxiety, agitation, and suicidal thoughts after years of examination and fresh research.

According to Jessica Oliphant, deputy director of the FDA’s toxicology research center, preliminary findings, which were presented this week in Austin, demonstrated “significant binding” of montelukast to many brain receptors.

Although further study is required to determine how the drug accumulates in the body, her team also verified previous findings that the drug enters rat brains.

“These findings show that montelukast concentrates in brain regions tied to psychiatric effects,” Jessica stated.

Reuters examined FDA slides that contrasted montelukast with neuropsychiatric antipsychotic medications such as risperidone.

Although the results confirm previous worries, the study does not recommend that montelukast be outlawed.

The FDA emphasized that the research is still in progress and that the findings are not yet definitive.

However, this is not the first time that scientists have expressed concerns about the medications.