Fwd: PRESCHOOLERS LEAD GROWTH OF ANTIDEPRESSANT USE--ur 'doctors' at work

[Guest guest]

Bea Bernhausen

Sat, 3 Apr 2004 23:15:54 -0800 (PST)

PRESCHOOLERS LEAD GROWTH OF ANTIDEPRESSANT USE--ur

'doctors' at work

 

 

Apologies to the few true healing doctors out there....

 

OUTRAGE - Pre-Schoolers

Lead Growth Of

Antidepressant Use

 

 

" And there's nobody protecting the children. It's just a free-for-all. "

Business Wire, 4-3-04

ST. LOUIS (Business Wire) -- The use of paroxetine and other antidepressant

medications continues to grow by about 10% annually among children and

adolescents, according to a study published in the April issue of Psychiatric

Services. The study profiles trends of prescription antidepressant use in

children and adolescents using prescription claim information from a random,

nationwide sample.

 

The study by Express Scripts examined antidepressant use among

approximately two million commercially-insured, pediatric beneficiaries 18 years

and younger from 1998 to 2002. The fastest growing segment of users were found

to be preschoolers aged 0-5 years, with use among girls doubling and use among

boys growing by 64%. For the entire sample, antidepressant use increased from

1.6% in 1998 to 2.4% in 2002, a 49% increase. Over the course of the study, the

growth in use was greater among girls (68%) than boys (34%) and, for each gender

respectively, growth was higher among younger boys and older girls. " A number

of factors acting together or independently may have led to escalated use of

antidepressants among children and adolescents, " said Tom Delate, Ph.D., of Research at Express Scripts.

 

" These factors include increasing rates of depression in successive age

groups, a growing awareness of and screening for depression by pediatricians and

assumptions that the effectiveness experienced by adults using antidepressant

medications will translate to children and adolescents. " Throughout the

five-year period of the study, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI's)

were the most commonly dispensed antidepressants, while tetracyclics were the

least. SSRI's include paroxetine (also known as Paxil®), Prozac® and

Zoloft®. Use of paroxetine increased 113% and 91% in females and males,

respectively, over the study period.

 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that

paroxetine not be used in children and adolescents because, among youths, its

efficacy has not been established for depression and its use is associated with

increased risk of suicidal thinking and suicide attempts. Of the SSRIs, only

Prozac has been approved by the FDA for treating depression in children and

adolescents.

 

More information about these and other studies are available at:

http://www.express-scripts.com/other/news_views/outcomes_research.htm.

 

http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1080899456221740.xm\

l

 

NJ Star-Ledger :

More kids prescribed drugs for depression Preschool rate rose the most, study

says .

By Ed Silverman 4-2-4

 

The rate at which antidepressants were prescribed to children rose about 10

percent annually between 1998 and 2002, with preschoolers accounting for the

sharpest increase, according to a new study. The study, which looked at

prescriptions written for some 2 million pediatric patients nationally, found

2.4 percent were prescribed antidepressants in 2002, up from 1.6 percent five

years earlier. That amounts to a 49 percent increase in the number of people

under 18 prescribed antidepressants, according to the study in Psychiatric

Services, a medical journal published by the American Psychiatric Association.

Among children 5 and under, the increase was even higher, with antidepressant

use among girls doubling and among boys rising by 64 percent.

 

Overall, the increase was highest among girls: 68 percent, compared to 34

percent among boys. The growth in prescriptions written for children occurred

even though antidepressants -- with the exception of Prozac -- were never

approved for anyone younger than 18. Prozac was approved as a treatment for

children, but only two years ago -- after the rise in juvenile prescriptions

began. The findings come amid a widening controversy over antidepressants and

alleged links to suicidal behavior and thoughts, especially among children. Last

month, the Food and Drug Administration asked drug makers to add explicit

warnings to their product labeling. " This adds to the data showing many

children are using these drugs, " said Tom Delate, research director at Express

Scripts, a pharmacy benefits manager that conducted the study.

 

" The safety and efficacy have to be examined more closely. This may add some

impetus. " He cited off-label use as the reason more children are prescribed

the drugs. Off-label use refers to a common practice among doctors to write

prescriptions even though regulators have not approved a medicine for a specific

use. Many doctors and families contend antidepressants have saved lives. This

argument is also cited by drug makers, which deny their pills, including Zoloft,

Paxil and Effexor, lead to suicide.

 

The manufacturers include Wyeth, GlaxoSmithkline, Eli Lilly and Pfizer.

Last year, though, British authorities warned doctors not to prescribe the

drugs, except for Prozac. They pointed to newly disclosed data showing one drug,

Glaxo's Paxil, wasn't effective and could increase the risk of suicide.

 

Last week, two congressional committees launched a probe into the FDA's

handling of the controversy. They want to know why the agency didn't take more

action, such as urging doctors not to prescribe the pills. The committee also

wants the FDA to explain why one of its own medical reviewers was prevented from

presenting data at a February hearing convened to explore safety risks. The

hearing garnered national publicity after many parents testified their children

committed suicide after taking an antidepressant. Consumer advocates,

meanwhile, are stepping up calls for the companies that make antidepressants to

release all unpublished clinical trial data. Drug makers aren't required to

disclose this information, which critics say allows negative findings to remain

suppressed.

 

" Frankly, I call this child abuse, " said Vera Sharav of the Alliance for

Human Research Protection, a consumer advocate. " There is no medical

justification for putting preschoolers on such drugs. And there's nobody

protecting the children. It's just a free-for-all. "

 

Ed Silverman can be reached at (973) 392-1542

or esilverman

Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger.

 

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted (C ) material the use of which has

not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is

made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human

rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc.

It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted

material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

This material is distributed without profit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway - Enter today