Anti-Psychotic Drug Trial On Teens Abandoned In Australia n

An anti-psychotic drug trial on teenagers has been given up in Australia, following strong protests from the international scientific community, reports say. 

 The controversy revolves around Quetiapine, sold as Seroquel and manufactured by AstraZeneca. They were to fund the trial.

 Experts were concerned children who had not yet been diagnosed with a psychotic illness would be unnecessarily given drugs with potentially dangerous side effects. Anti-psychotics are vital, but should not be used without clear evidence of the benefits, many scientists argue. 
The drug has already been linked to weight gain and last month Zenca paid US$647 million ($622 million) to settle a lawsuit in the US, alleging there was insufficient warning the drug may cause diabetes. 
Professor Patrick McGorry, one of the Prime Minister's key mental health advisers, had planned the trial at Orygen Youth Health in Melbourne, listing it on the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry last March. 
It was to investigate whether the drug would decrease or delay the risk of people aged between 15 and 40 with early signs of mental illness, developing a psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia. 
Last month, psychiatrists, psychologists and researchers from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Britain and the US lodged a complaint with the ethics committee of Melbourne Health, the umbrella service which includes Orygen. They contended there was little evidence the onset of psychosis can be prevented and it was potentially dangerous to use anti-psychotics on those who merely had risk factors such as a family history or deterioration in mental health, with evidence showing up to 80 per cent will never develop a disorder.