Re: More Spent on Drugs for Behavior Disorders in Children Than on Asthma Medications and Antibiotics

[Deborah Harrell]

 Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
snip 
 Spending Reflects Popularity of Children's
 Behavior-Disorder Drugs
 
 For the first time, spending on drugs for behavior
 disorders in children 
 has eclipsed that for asthma medications and
 antibiotics.
 The last three years have seen a 49 percent increase
 in the use of drugs to 
 treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in
 children under age 5, 
 yielding a 369 percent increase in spending for
 those drugs. Over the same 
 period, spending rose 21 percent for antidepressants
 and 71 percent for 
 drugs to treat autism and other conduct disorders.
 Spending for antibiotics 
 rose 4.3 percent.
 Behavioral medicines have eclipsed the other
 categories this year, said 
 Robert Epstein, chief medical officer of Medco
 Health Solutions. It 
 certainly reflects the concern of parents that their
 children do as well as they can.
 Overall, 5.3 percent of children took some
 behavioral medicine in 2003, 
 leading some to fear it was overprescribed.
 Psychiatrist James McGough of 
 the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute said children on
 attention-deficit 
 drugs tend to do better in school and avoid
 substance abuse, but warned 
 that antidepressants can increase suicide risk in
 children.

I find this scary; while I do not doubt that some
children need such medication, I think that using
psychoactive drugs in very young children (I've read
of 3-year-olds on some) has a real chance of
distorting brain architecture and chemistry, with
unknown consequences.  I personally would want at
least two psychiatrist's/neuropsychologist's
concurrence before considering such drugs in a
preschooler, and possibly for an older child as well. 


Debbi




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Re: More Spent on Drugs for Behavior Disorders in Children Than on Asthma Medications and Antibiotics

[David Land]

Another take on drugging kids:
http://www.bruderhof.com/articles/ritalin.htm
Dave
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More Spent on Drugs for Behavior Disorders in Children Than on Asthma Medications and Antibiotics (Fwd: Science in the News Weekly Issue: 20 Volume: 2)

[Ronn!Blankenship]

Sigma Xi Home American Scientist Home Manage Subscription Science in the 
News Daily

May 18, 2004 - Vol. 2 , No. 20
Science in the News Weekly is a weekly digest of science news stories 
appearing in the mainstream media. It is produced every Tuesday morning as 
part of Sigma Xi's public understanding of science program area, in 
conjunction with American Scientist magazine.
To subscribe, use our online signup form. For more information, please see 
the Sigma Xi Web site. Keep up with Science in the News, updated every 
weekday.

In This Issue
Spending Reflects Popularity of Children's Behavior-Disorder Drugs
For the first time, spending on drugs for behavior disorders in children 
has eclipsed that for asthma medications and antibiotics.
The last three years have seen a 49 percent increase in the use of drugs to 
treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children under age 5, 
yielding a 369 percent increase in spending for those drugs. Over the same 
period, spending rose 21 percent for antidepressants and 71 percent for 
drugs to treat autism and other conduct disorders. Spending for antibiotics 
rose 4.3 percent.
Behavioral medicines have eclipsed the other categories this year, said 
Robert Epstein, chief medical officer of Medco Health Solutions. It 
certainly reflects the concern of parents that their children do as well as 
they can.
Overall, 5.3 percent of children took some behavioral medicine in 2003, 
leading some to fear it was overprescribed. Psychiatrist James McGough of 
the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute said children on attention-deficit 
drugs tend to do better in school and avoid substance abuse, but warned 
that antidepressants can increase suicide risk in children.

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