If there is one thing that is worse than an appeal to science it is an appeal to the current studies that have been done with no appreciation of the fact that running studies is EXPENSIVE and TIME CONSUMING and the majority of the studies are SPONSORED BY DRUG COMPANIES where drug companies have NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER in running studies that show the HARMFUL CONSEQUENCES of their medication.

In fact there is a problem right now with the fact that the drug companies aren't obliged to disclose all the studies they run. If 90 out of 100 studies show that Effexor is no more effective for depression than eating weet-bix then the drug companies withhold publishing those 90 studies and publish the 10.

It takes TIME and considerable EXPENSE to replicate the weet-bix vs Effexor study and people simply aren't likely to fund that unless it is a matter of Effexor vs Brand New Wonderdrug That We Just Invented.

Looking at LOTS of anecdotal reports is (IMHO) going to be the best way of assessing liklihood of negative side effects for some time yet...