Early indications are that the drug is effective for severe depression.
It might be considered for patients who don't respond to other antidepressants or suffer unacceptable side effects, but time is needed before its role in treatment is clear. For example, when Paxil came out, it was touted by the manufacturer as the most powerful serotonin reuptake inhibitor. That may be chemically true, but it doesn't mean Paxil necessarily works any better than Prozac. In early clinical trials of this drug, three patients in about 3,000 developed serious depression of bone marrow. All recovered when the drug was discontinued.