Dramatic Rise in Prescribing Psychiatric Drugs to Children Younger than Five

[The Straight Story]

Dramatic Rise in Prescribing Psychiatric Drugs to Children Younger than Five
Thursday, May 06, 2010

Described by one leading psychiatry expert as “a national tragedy,” the United States since the 1990s has greatly expanded the use of antidepressants and other powerful medications on children.

Data published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry showed that from 1999 to 2007 the prescribing of antipsychotic drugs for children two to five years old with private insurance doubled in size. The jump mirrored the doubling of bipolar disorder diagnoses for this age group during the last decade. Children on Medicare are even more likely to be given antipsychotics.

The most commonly-prescribed drug was risperidone (Risperdal), which was approved by the FDA for use in cases of schizophrenia in 1993, and was made available in generic form in October 2008.

The same study also found that a majority of children given mood-altering drugs did not receive a mental health assessment or were not seen by a psychiatrist.

Vera Hassner Sharav, president of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, warned that children given these pharmaceuticals run a higher risk of developing diabetes and serious metabolic disorders.

http://www.allgov.com/Controversies/ViewNews/Dramatic_Rise_in_Prescribing_Psychiatric_Drugs_to_Children_Younger_than_Five_100506