Antidepressants in Japan (original) (raw)

The number of new psychiatric drugs, and especially antidepressants on the market in Japan, is significantly less than Western countries. One of the biggest barriers to antidepressants coming to the market is that the medical insurance system in Japan is national, and the authorities are keen to contain a potentially explosive market for drugs like antidepressants that could be used or abused by persons in various forms of distress.