Bristol-Myers Squibb Pulls Antidepressant Drug from Dutch Market

Voluntary Market Withdrawal follows Serzone Recall in Sweden

Bristol-Myers Squibb will voluntarily stop selling the antidepressant nefazodone in the Netherlands after April 1, 2003.

Nefazodone, marketed as Dutonin in the Netherlands, has been linked to liver failure and/or death in 26 people worldwide.

The antidepressant drug is known as Serzone in the US, where its label carries a “black box” warning informing patients that rare but possibly life-threatening liver damage could result from use of the drug.

The Netherlands is the second European country where Serzone has been voluntarily pulled off the market. Bristol-Myers Squibb said earlier in 2002 it would withdraw nefazodone from the Swedish market.

A spokesperson for Bristol-Myers Squibb said the company planned to notify authorities in Denmark that Serzone would be withdrawn from the Danish market as well.