Lilly also plays up the minor risk of abnormal heartbeats posed by Pfizer's Geodon, which was initially rejected by regulators because of such concerns.
There is very high certainty from well-designed trials that colon cancer screening, combined with effective follow-up and treatment of abnormal findings, reduces risk of colon cancer death by at least 35 percent and risk of getting colon cancer by 20 percent.
But the researchers say that while longer QT interval is a risk factor for abnormal heart rhythms, these abnormal rhythms are still extremely rare, and the actual increase in QT observed was modest - so for the vast majority of patients, the potential benefits in treating depression or anxiety would far exceed the risk.