American children take antipsychotics at about six times the rate of children in the UK, according to a comparison based on a study published in Pediatrics.
But does this mean kids in the US are being overtreated? Or are Uk children undertreated? Experts say that’s almost beside the point, because use is rising on both [...]

Earlier this year, we noted that New Jersey’s Medicaid program spent more than $73 million on several antipsychotic meds for children less than 18 years old between 2000 and 2007, according to state records, even though the drugs weren’t approved by the FDA for treating kids. And a state official acknowledges the drugs may have [...]

Nursing home patients who take antipsychotic drugs are 60 percent more likely to develop pneumonia in the short term than those who don’t take the drugs, according to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The risk is greatest during the first week after patients start taking the meds, but gradually decreases, [...]

Yesterday, we wrote that a new study found the accuracy of ads for antidepressants and antipsychotics often make claims that can’t be verified and attempts to obtain data cited in the ads from the drugmakers were rarely successful. The study, which examined the accuracy of 69 ads that appeared in four widely read medical journals [...]

A new study finds that the accuracy of ads for antidepressants and antipsychotics often make claims that can’t be verified and attempts to obtain data cited in the ads from the drugmakers were rarely successful. The study examined the accuracy of 69 ads that appeared in four widely read medical journals - Archives of General [...]

Four years ago, Lilly and several other drugmakers proposed the creation of The Florida Behavioral Health Collaborative. And they provided $10 million to the state to get it up and running. Soon, an expert panel was convened and recommended state standards, and national scholars with financial ties to drugmakers that sell atypicals were invited to [...]

Over the past several months, there has been a steady trickle of reports emanating from around the US that indicate antipsychotics have been prescribed to children, even when appropriate regulatory approval has been lacking. Now, a forthcoming study suggests the same trend has been occurring in the UK, The Guardian reports.
The number of children on [...]

A psychiatrist is expected to be dropped from the medical register after being found guilty of conducting unethical drug tests on mentally ill patients, The Times of London reports. Tonmoy Sharma, a former lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, wrongly recruited patients in unsolicited telephone calls without contacting their nurses or caregivers, according to the [...]

The so-called atypicals - including Abilify, Risperdal, Zyprexa, Seroquel and Geodon - have been hailed as more effective and easier to tolerate than the older and cheaper kind such as Haldol, which cause tremors and rigid muscles. But the new generation are no better at treating a first episode of schizophrenia, according to a study [...]

New Jersey’s Medicaid program spent more than $73 million on antipsychotic meds for children less than 18 years old between 2000 and 2007, according to state records, even though the drugs weren’t approved by the FDA for treating kids. And a state official acknowledges the drugs may have been prescribed for conditions other than schizophrenia [...]