Some antidepressants may actually do more harm than good to depressed children, according to an analysis of unpublished data that pharmaceutical companies may have been hiding from the public.

The study, published in the April issue of the British medical journal The Lancet, reviewed both published data and unpublished data on the effects of antidepressants and placebos in children from 5 to 18 years old. The results show that four out of the five antidepressants examined had the potential to harm depressed children.

“In view of the high risk of suicide in this group of children and young people, the possibility that a drug might increase that risk without clear evidence of benefit, should, in our view, discourage its use,” the authors wrote in The Lancet paper.

The study only examined the effects of antidepressants on depressed children. Researchers said the drugs might be safe and effective for treating children with obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety or other problems.

Prozac was the only drug found to be safe and effective for treating depressed children. But the results on Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, and Effexor showed the drugs are unsafe, ineffective or both.

(via Wired News)