U.S. probes use of antipsychotic drugs on children.
If you thought kids are being put on Ritalin etc too often, you are obviously right. Reality is sinking in slowly, or maybe not so slowly in the psychiatric profession. Listen to audio below.
Extracts: Prescription of powerful anti-psychotic drugs for children has tripled. 1 in 10 Americans prescribed anti-depressants, including 1 in 4 women in 40s and 50s. Use of ADHD drugs increased by 50% in England.
Federal health officials have launched a probe into the use of antipsychotic drugs on children in the Medicaid system, amid concern that the medications are being prescribed too often to treat behavioral problems in the very young.
Some doctors say there is too much emphasis on medicating children instead of working with them and their caregivers to understand what is triggering their behavior. Dr. Glenn Saxe, chairman of child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU-Langone Medical Center and a proponent of trauma-focused therapy, says psychiatry has missed “big opportunities to help children. This problem has led to kids being medicated more and more.”
Dr. Siles agrees that lots of children could be helped by trauma-centered therapy, “but there is no budget for it.”Government Medicaid data indicate that some of the prescriptions are being written for very young children. An analysis by Mathematica found that in 2008, 19,045 children age 5 and under were prescribed antipsychotics through Medicaid.
Government Medicaid data indicate that some of the prescriptions are being written for very young children. An analysis by Mathematica found that in 2008, 19,045 children age 5 and under were prescribed antipsychotics through Medicaid, 3% of recipients under 20, up from 7,759 in 1999, according to James Verdier, a senior fellow at the organization.
Data from the inspector general’s five-state probe indicate that 482 children 3 and under were prescribed antipsychotics during the period in question, including 107 children 2 and under. Six were under a year old, including one listed as a month old. The records don’t indicate the diagnoses involved.
Texas said about five children under the age of 1 had been prescribed antipsychotics during the time period of the probe, including two who were five months old.
Dr. Stephen Cha, a chief medical officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the HHS agency that foots some of the bill for drugs prescribed to Medicaid recipients, says the government wants to reduce what he termed “the unnecessarily high utilization of antipsychotics.” He urges doctors to consider other approaches, including therapy to help children and families cope with psychological trauma that could be at the root of behavior issues. – Source : Wall Street Journal
The Briefing 08-16-13. Listen to full audio here.
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