The Head of European Clinical Psychiatry at the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has denied that the drug Seroxat can lead to addiction.

In an interview with Panorama, to be shown on Sunday night, Dr Alastair Benbow said the drug was well tolerated and had been used all over the world for a decade.

Dr Benbow also added: "As with all prescriptions medicines, Seroxat does have side effects, but these are clearly stated in the information that's made available to doctors and to patients."

He also denied claims that the drug could be responsible for violence in users, saying there was no "reliable clinical evidence that Seroxat causes violence, aggression or homicide".

Definition

Dr Benbow also says there is no reliable evidence that the drug can cause addiction or dependence.

He adds that this is a fact which has been "borne out by a number of independent clinical experts, by regulatory authorities around the world, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a number of other groups".

When challenged, that the company is misleading the public by claiming that Seroxat is not addictive, Dr Benbow said this was not true as the definition of addiction was very specific.

"Addiction is characterised by a number of different criteria which includes craving, which includes increasing the dose of drug to get the same effect, and a number of other features, and these are not exhibited by Seroxat."

He added that if you used the dictionary definition of addiction, then they could be applied to most prescription medicines.