Seroxat programmes short listed

Panorama's two investigations into the anti-depressant Seroxat have been short listed in the 2003 Mental Health Media Awards.

The Secrets of Seroxat and the follow up programme Seroxat: Emails from the Edge have been included in the final four of the TV Documentary category.

The two programmes have been entered as one single body of work as the programmes are related to each other and cover the same subject.

They will face competition from Channel Four's documentary Make Me a Man, and the ITV programmes Young Offenders and West Eye View: Bitter Pill.

Inspiring change

The Mental Health Media Awards, now in their 10th year were established to promote high quality broadcasting about mental health and distress.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony taking place in London on October 7, 2003

The awards recognise that powerful programmes and portrayals have an impact which last long after their original broadcast. They can generate discussion, shatter misconceptions, illuminate thinking and inspire real change.

The Secrets of the Seroxat was shown in October 2002 and revealed the dark and shocking side of Seroxat including reports that people can suffer serious withdrawal symptoms when they try to come off it.

Viewer response

These are accusations that the drug's maker GlaxoSmithKline denies.

The feedback to that film was unprecedented, with 67,000 people contacting a BBC helpline and 1,500 people emailing the programme. Many of them reported similar problems to those featured in The Secrets of Seroxat.

The second investigation into Seroxat, "Emails from the Edge" was been driven by that viewers' response and featured a medical paper which was written for the programme by a medicines risk expert. It was broadcast in May, 2003.