Please See Important Safety Information, Including Boxed Warning, Below

The Role of Marplan® (isocarboxazid) Tablets in Alleviating the Symptoms of Treatment-Resistant* Major Depression

Psychotherapy and standard antidepressant medications can alleviate depression symptoms for many patients in a period of weeks or just a few months.

If depression lasts for a more extended period of time, patients may experience a profound sense of frustration over their chronic (long-term) lack of symptom relief. Social withdrawal and an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness and despair can arise after years of incomplete symptom control. A patient's prolonged avoidance of social contact can lead to a social anxiety disorder that can further his or her difficulty in resuming a normal lifestyle.

When a patient's symptoms don't respond to one or more conventional antidepressant, the patient's condition is called Treatment-Resistant Major Depression4*

—but there is still hope, and treatment is available:

  • Patients with this condition may respond favorably to a different chemical class of mood elevating drugs called MAO inhibitors1
  • Marplan® (isocarboxazid) Tablets is an effective MAO Inhibitor1

*Treatment failure with first-line antidepressants.

Please see Full Prescribing Information including BOXED WARNINGS regarding increased risk of suicidality in children and adolescents. MAO Inhibitors are contraindicated with certain drugs. Potential hypertensive crises may occur with foods that contain tyramine. As with all antidepressants, patients should be observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidality, and unusual changes in behavior, especially during the initial few months of treatment.

Suicidality and Antidepressant Drugs

Antidepressants increased the risk compared to placebo of suicidal thinking and behavior (suicidality) in children, adolescents, and young adults in short-term studies with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders. Anyone considering the use of Marplan® (isocarboxazid) Tablets or any other antidepressant in a child, adolescent or young adult must balance this risk with the clinical need. Short-term studies did not show an increase in the risk of suicidality with antidepressants compared to placebo in adults beyond age 24; there was a reduction in risk with antidepressants compared to placebo in adults aged 65 and older. Depression and certain other psychiatric disorders are themselves associated with increases in the risk of suicide. Patients of all ages who are started on antidepressant therapy should be monitored appropriately and observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidality, or unusual changes in behavior. Families and caregivers should be advised of the need for close observation and communication with the prescriber. Marplan® (isocarboxazid) Tablets is not approved for use in pediatric patients. (See Warnings: Clinical Worsening and Suicide Risk, Precautions: Information for Patients, and Precautions: Pediatric Use).

Pooled analyses of short-term (4 to 16 weeks) placebo-controlled trials of 9 antidepressant drugs (SSRIs and others) in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), or other psychiatric disorders (a total of 24 trials involving over 4400 patients) have revealed a greater risk of adverse events representing suicidal thinking or behavior (suicidality) during the first few months of treatment in those receiving antidepressants. The average risk of such events in patients receiving antidepressants was 4%, twice the placebo risk of 2%. No suicides occurred in these trials.

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