Painkiller Ziconotide May Trigger Suicides
Experts warn that the painkiller ziconotide is linked to an increased suicide risk in vulnerable patients. The drug is a synthetic version of a toxin derived from a marine snail and is used to treat severe chronic pain in patients that do not respond to other medications.
Although treatment with the drug helps block out the pain, researchers found that it also causes psychiatric complications and neurological impairments that fuel thoughts of self-inflicted harm. Ziconotide already carries a black box warning based on reports of problems such as confusion and abnormal thinking. But there has not been a specific warning on an increased risk of suicide.
Two recent cases support the suspicion that ziconotide promotes suicidal tendencies. One case involved a 66-year-old man who was treated with the medication for severe foot pain. The man did not show any previous depressive symptoms, but hung himself eight weeks after starting therapy. Another case involved a 39-year-old woman with a history of depression and 14 years of pain treatment for backache. After six months of treatment with ziconotide, she reported no ease in pain but was hospitalized for general restlessness, severe sleep disturbance, nausea, and increasing suicidal thoughts.
Researchers suggest that patients considered for treatment with the drug should undergo a thorough psychiatric examination. Once treatment is started, patients should be monitored closely for depressive symptoms and suicidal tendencies.