Psychotic Reaction: Treating ADHD In Maine
22 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // November 20th, 2008 // 5:08 pm
Earlier this week, the FDA advisory committee slammed the rising use of antipsychotics in youngsters, particularly to treat attention deficit disorders. The meds, you see, were approved by the agency for schiozphrenia or bipolar disorder - and only recently for youngsters, in some cases (back story).
The trend, however, to prescribe these meds for teenagers and children has actually been widespread, with Medicaid programs in several states reporting rising expenditures for antipsychotics to treat ADD or ADHD. A report issued last year by the University of South Florida found that among children 5 years or younger, 53.8 percent were prescribed antipsychotics for a diagnosis of ADHD. The figure was 48.8 percent for children between 6 and 12 years old (see page 22).
The issue is gaining attention because most of the meds can cause weight gain and metabolic disorders, and the FDA committee complained current warnings are insufficient. The meds include Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal, Lilly’s Zyprexa, AstraZeneca’s Seroquel, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Abilify and Pfizer’s Geodon. As we have written previously, a consortium of state Medicaid directors is evaluating the use of the drugs in children to ensure they are being properly prescribed (take a look).
And now we have another example. In Maine, spending by the state Medicaid program on each of the five widely prescribed antipsychotics has been rising for children 18 years and younger since 2000, except for Zyprexa. At the same time, ADHD has been the number one diagnosis among the same population each year, except for last year, when prolonged post-traumatic stress disorder was more widely diagnosed. See the chart. The data is courtesy of the Office of Maine Care Services.
Lisa Van S
Ed,
Douglas Kennedy(Fox Cable news) Nephew of Senator Ed Kennedy, at 5:56 pm Est had a Kick ass report on antipsychotics in children. He showed pictures of a young boy who had to have a mastectomy due to the side effects of risperdal. Oh Man, he really gave it to Dr. Tom Laughren the puzzled FDA official.
Salmon
I found the video of the report on the following web page:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/index.html
Salmon
war horse
Does anybody have a link to the original report?
Amy
First you have a made up “disorder” called ADHD. Then you make a drug to treat the invented disorder. What a criminal racket!
Bruce
Zyprexa takes a big dive because of all the bad press and lawsuits. I expect the others will follow.
Neil Manowitz, PhD,
Someone should count up all of the black box warnings that have been added since Laughghren has been in charge. This division hasn’t been the same since Paul Leber left.
Margaret
Check AHRP.ORG for the wording of the FOX Report. Check it also for the list of conflicts of interest attributed to Dr. Laughren. I found him to be the most insulting man when testifying at the FDA, pleading for stronger warnings. Other parents, having also lost their child, were crying as they spoke. Dr. Laughren stared down at the table and never looked up; never reacted. The FDA even tried to block many of us from testifying at the last FDA Hearing on the SSRI Black Box recommendations. This man should be fired or have a criminal trial.
And the atypical antipsychotics are long overdue for black box warnings in all categories; all ages; all the time. Either that or they should be pulled from the market. Pharma have made their megabucks, thousands have died or are living with diabetes for shortened lives, and Dr. Laughren’s response is “What, Me Worry?” Disgraceful
david
It would be nice if your reporting was accurate–Abilify has no associated weight gain and no diabetes risk.
harpy
“the meds can cause weight gain and metabolic disorders”
Perhaps you missed soemthing.
Margaret
I don’t know what harpy is trying to say. And as for Abilify , they are doing DTC ads to take it for depression. This is against the law: As far as I know it has not been approved for depression.
I am happy the FOX segment showed the boys with breasts that required mastectomies from Seroquel. Sometimes sensationalism is required to get anyone’s attention anymore. Funny the atypical makers never mentioned this or deaths from these drugs being given to children. Ban the drugs.
Bruce
ABILIFY
SOME WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS
• Elderly Patients with Dementia-Related Psychosis: Increased incidence of
cerebrovascular adverse events (eg, stroke, transient ischemic attack,
including fatalities)
• Suicidality and Antidepressants: Increased risk of suicidality in children,
adolescents, and young adults with Major Depressive Disorder
• Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome: Manage with immediate discontinuation and close monitoring
• Tardive Dyskinesia: Discontinue if clinically appropriate
• Hyperglycemia and Diabetes Mellitus: Monitor glucose regularly in patients with and at risk for diabetes
• Orthostatic Hypotension: Use with caution in patients with known cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease
• Seizures/Convulsions: Use cautiously in patients with a history of seizures
or with conditions that lower the seizure threshold
• Potential for Cognitive and Motor Impairment: Use caution when operating machinery
• Suicide: Closely supervise high-risk patients
Lowell
Its as simple as this. Research it. Get the video titled Vaccination The Hiddens Truth. The main reason kids today have epidemic levels of ADHA, hyperactivity disorders, (maybe as well) bipolar, behavioral disorder, to include autism, is because of the growing number endless childhood vaccinations. Repeated activation of the brains microglia (sp?), which is part of the brains and brain stems own immune system, produces overactivated receptors and synapses in the brain, influencing the chemical balance as well. Adding these drugs not only masks the symptoms, but creates new problems. mercola.com (go there). Vaccine Information Service, National Vaccine Information Center, (NVIC), Judical Watch. These formerly prominate diseases stated a major decline long before vaccine was available and disappeared with no increase in decline rate with introduction of the vaccines. When measles or assumed pertusis shows back up its almost always in vaccinated persons. Aparently vaccines dont work, and are very risky. There is no such thing as SIDS, Dr Viera Schreibner, see above video.
Rena Goodrich
You know it’s extremely bad when even the FDA is objecting!
Bell Ringer
Who would make a drug like this? And then market it solely for profits, with all these side effects? They must be crazy! Wait…I think I just answered my own question.
Salmon
Margaret,
I saw an ad on TV last night for Abilify for Unipolar Depression. I just checked the FDA database (Drugs@FDa) and cannot find any approved indication for depression. The last approval of a new indication was back in August. It’s possible it has been approved in the past few days, but to me this is uncontionable to run the advertisements before the approval information and the labeling on how to dose and use a drug is available, even if it is approved. For all I know the dose could be lower, etc..
The FDA Amendments Act of 2007 was supposed to take care of things like this and have approved labeling available within a specified time frame after approval so there wouldn’t be this kind of problem. If this is how well the FDA does when they’re under scrutiny and when it’s so easy to do and when it’s important to drug companies to get it right. Then this says a lot about the competency of FDA management. I hope people will send an e-mail to Sen. Grassley and have him look into the true story and how something like this could happen.
Salmon
November 23, 2008
Alison Doran
My son was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 7. I refused to accept this diagnosis and would not have him put on drugs. He had some difficulty in school and was slow to learn to read. But by the time he was a teenager he was voraciously reading anything that interested him. Now he is 22 and has no problem remaining employed.
Contrast this with a man I know who was diagnosed and drugged at the same age. He dropped out of school as a teenager and hitchhiked across the country, eventually settling down to become a drug dealer. Whenever he tried regular employment, he wouldn’t last more than a month. I once gave him a pamphlet to read but he pushed it away, explaining that he was learning disabled and couldn’t read. The last time I saw him he was living in his car and hiding out from the police, who had warrants for his arrest.
Diagnosing and drugging children does a disservice not only to the child, but to families who have to deal with their children and also to society in general, when the results produce human beings who can’t cope with life.
Beli Mawr
• Hyperglycemia and Diabetes Mellitus: Monitor glucose regularly in patients with and at risk for diabetes
This is ridiculous. I know from having Type 1, by the time the elevated Bg’s occur, it is already too late-you will have it permanently, without any way in this country to reverse it. If you lived in the UK, you can get an injection/operation originally developed by a Korean Dr in California that will fix it, for free. But Eli Lilly, the maker of Zyprexa and not coincidentally the largest marketer of insulin in the world, prevented the FDA from being allowed to do it here.
Alison is right too-most people treated with these meds will forever be pretty much worthless to society after taking them, or taking alcohol or drugs secretly to cope.
Beli Mawr
Just to let everyone know, I helped make sure my honey’s youngest, who was dx’d with ADHD, not have to take meds for it. He has a high metabolism, so we ixnayed caffeine and candy if he’s off, made him exercise, eat a lot of vegetables and put him on a high fat diet. He’s doing fine-and not having to smoke pot or do drugs to get thru life, either.
Thanks Alison, you’re a great mom for willing to love your kid enough to take care of your son, instead of letting eli lilly or J&J pharmaceutically babysit him! A good parent is there for her kids, and you are a great parent!
Joe Sober
I just discovered your blog and noticed that the last post is over a year old, since then things have changed a little.
I noticed that there is more folks out there protesting the excessive use of drugs in the whole population.
Children are particularly targeted by Psychs and pharmaceutical industry as these are their future income and as statistics show once on ‘meds’ these children become more dependent on their drugs on and ever increasing number just to counteract the myriad of symptoms these create.
Perhaps you will find more links and agreement in my blog http://x-addict.blogspot.com/. You are right, psych drugs are the scourge of humanity.
weight loss tips
Dear friend ,
this is very sensitive issue to deal,
we should take care of childerens by not giving them antipshocotic drugs ,
we should solve the basic problem
Tom
I recommend you find a ADHD doctor that monitors the amount of drugs taken. Our son uses Dallas ADHD and they monitor usage closely. This I find is one solution.
- Tom
gayrockhardabsman
The term autistic has been misused to describe persons with anything from cerebral allergies and schizophrenia to attention deficient disorder and post traumatic disorder. Sadly, few doctors and educators understand true cases of autism to make a correct diagnosis. So they go with the latest media driven flow. Pick and choose from a broad and ever expanding spectrum. Or worse, they guess. The hallmark traits of autism are: sensitivity to sounds, specific tastes in food/drink, strange body postures, repetitive behaviors, inability to control emotions or excitement, poor reasoning skills, needs routines, resists changes, sense of direction and memory better than other skills, thinking based on association, not reasoning, once distracted by olfactory, visual or auditory stimuli, they become preoccupied. This is markedly DIFFERENT than ADHD, in that ADHD presents as easily distracted by stimuli, BUT, the person bounces focus from one thing to another. ADHD people don’t stay hyper-focused or fixate on something. That is what you will see a truly autistic person do. Fixate. Appear to be in a world of their own. Not wanting to play or socialize with others. Not wanting to play or socialize with others is only a hallmark trait of autism when it ALSO involves, not willfully choosing to ignore or not play with others. A truly autistic person doesn’t choose to not play or socialize, it’s simply who they are– not to play or socialize with others—is in itself the core of autism—within oneself. They may show signs of affection or social skills, but it will almost always be brief. FYI: jenny mccarthy’s kid was never autistic, is not autistic. Much like the mother who wrote the book about “tony” the allegedly autistic kid she cured, yeah right. Turned out “tony” had a rare cerebral allergy to milk…he was never autistic..and yes, years from now we will all know that McCarthy is yet another FRAUD who poses as a mother of an autistic son who was cured, but the truth is, he never had autism…..what a racket, what a scam , what a disgrace and slap in face to all families who are dealing with authentic autism as you can see on youtube when you type in autism and seizures or autism and self injury…..