Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to health professionals that prescribe Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors on advice to patients on the potential for (a) erectile dysfunction and (b) other side effects after patients have stopped taking that medication.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are authorised for the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders.

Information about possible side-effects associated with treatment are provided in the product information which is available to all prescribers and patients. All SSRIs include sexual dysfunction (problems with erection or ejaculation) within the list of possible side effects. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is contributing to an ongoing European review of persistent sexual dysfunction for all SSRI medicines.

All SSRIs may be associated with withdrawal reactions on stopping or reducing treatment and product information for healthcare professionals and patients includes advice on gradual withdrawal of treatment and management of symptoms.

In addition to the product information which is approved by the MHRA, communications and guidance may be issued to raise awareness of particular safety concerns. Information about possible withdrawal reactions and the need to gradually reduce the dose when stopping treatment was issued in 2004 and subsequently incorporated into general guidance published on the MHRA website in 2014.

The safety of SSRIs is continually monitored by the MHRA.