The antidepressant trial that misled a generation of teens

For years, doctors relied on the 'TADS' trial to prescribe antidepressants to teens. Now, a reanalysis reveals serious harms that were never disclosed.

In the early 2000s, a clinical trial promised to revolutionise the treatment of teenage depression. Known as the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS), it quickly became the most cited study of its kind.

Published in the top-ranking journal JAMA, it shaped global treatment guidelines and reassured doctors that fluoxetine (Prozac) was safe and effective for adolescents.

But a forensic reanalysis published in the International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine tells a very different story—one marred by suppressed data, flawed methods, and a striking number of serious adverse events among teens taking the drug.

This isn’t just academic disagreement. It’s a warning that flawed science, left uncorrected, can shape clinical practice for decades, and put children’s lives at risk.