« Researchers debunk popular holiday myths | Main | Re-staged Milgram study suggests people may still be willing to inflict pain on others »
December 24, 2008
Investigation finds increasing number of children taking psychiatric medications
In an investigative piece, the Poughkeepsie Journal (12/21, Pfeiffer) "studied five years of records for 29 major psychiatric medications, sold under 58 brand and generic names, and prescribed to children and adolescents under 21.
The data, provided by the Office of the State Comptroller under the Freedom of Information Act, showed" that the "rate of prescription of antipsychotic medications...rose [in New York state] for children and adolescents on Medicaid by 26 percent per capita from 2003 to 2007."
In the U.S. as a whole, the "rate of antipsychotic prescribing...increased fivefold from 1995 to 2002 -- to 39.4 of every 1,000 children two to 18 years old -- according to a study published in the journal Ambulatory Pediatrics." Many mental health experts have watched this rise "with a mixture of encouragement and apprehension," according to the Journal.
While some believe that the increase shows that "mental illness is finally being accepted as a biological reality that requires treatment," others "are bothered by the scale on which children are being medicated."
Posted by admin at December 24, 2008 12:50 AM