quote:U.S. children diagnosed with behavior and psychiatric problems increasingly receive more than one medication despite very little proof that many of the drugs are safe or effective for kids, suggests a research review out Monday. "We don't know how these drugs may interact with each other, and we don't even have safety studies in children for many of the drugs on their own," says child psychiatrist Joseph Penn of Brown University Medical School and Bradley Hospital in Providence
He and co-author Henrietta Leonard searched the Pub Med database, covering published scientific research, for all studies on children's psychiatric "polypharmacy" use between 1994 and 2004. Their report is in the journal Psychiatry 2005.
They found only six studies. Updates over time showed soaring use of multiple medicines with kids.
For example, a survey of primary care doctors giving children stimulants, commonly prescribed for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), found multiple psychiatric medicines prescribed in about 5% of office visits during 1993-94. That surged to 25% of visits in 1997-98. Another study on privately insured kids found that 3% given psychiatric drugs got more than one in 1987. It was up to 23% in 1996.
This kind of information is important. This isn't Tom Cruise raising questions - according to one of the reports I read, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is expressing concern as well over this trend.
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I wonder how many of these kids are getting the Rx from a General practitioner/Ped rather than a psychiatrist.
quote:Insurers often are more willing to pay for pills than for therapy.
I would expect a lot. I understand the argument that some of these drugs are as important as heart meds and other treatments of physical ailments, but most kids are not on those kinds of drugs.
I would explore other options as much as possible in most cases. If a child is on these drugs and has to stay on them forever, it can mean things such as they shouldn't ever have children for some drugs. Though I guess we can argue whether we want child born to a mother with untreated depression, ADD, etc.
Then again, is it just a stereotype that more boys than girls are receiving these drugs?
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quote: The AACAP, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was established in 1953. It is a membership based organization, composed of over 7,400 child and adolescent psychiatrists and other interested physicians. Its members actively research, evaluate, diagnose, and treat psychiatric disorders and pride themselves on giving direction to and responding quickly to new developments in addressing the health care needs of children and their families.
Please note that the message is distinctly different. Tom Cruise/Scientology are basically slamming all use of medication.
The researchers in question and this organization are asking if too many drugs, in too many combinations, are being given to too many kids. And then rightly pointing out that the data on the interactive effects of these medications on children is pretty much nil.
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One of the challenges is finding a good child therapist. We had an awesome one in Utah. We saw more progress with Stephen in the few months he saw this guy then we have the 3 years he has been seeing a doc here. We went to several therapists before finding one that was working. Then they cut her legs out from under her by changing the office policy and she no longer had a set office so she couldn't have the extensive toys for play therapy. (That is what he responded best too) After a few months he wasn't making any progress so we stopped going. Now he is on Wellbutrin only. He does meet with the psychiatrist every 2 months but this kid is not a talker and the psychiatrist doesn't do therapy really, just hands over a new scrip. It is frustrating at times to get good mental health care for children. But I do agree that drugs are pushed too often, especially when so many aren't tested on children.
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I know how the insurance roller coaster can be. My eldest is in therapy right now ( not for an organic disorder, for grief counseling so meds are not an issue) and the insurance is bending over backwards to try and not pay her. Luckily, she is letting me do office work to barter off what they won't pay.
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