UK ‘tranks for kids’ warning
p2pnet news | Off Topic:- As many as 3,000 children in Britain were given controversial unlicensed anti-psychotic drugs between 1996 and 2005, “despite concerns from experts that they could cause long-term harm and even death,” says Times Online.
Doctors gave out twice as many prescriptions in 2005 as in 1992, even though the’are not licensed to be given to children and, “The number of prescriptions for children in the 7 to 12 age group trebled, the largest area of expansion, according to findings by Ian Wong, a Professor of Paediatric Medicines Research at the London School of Pharmacy,” says the story,
The drugs were prescribed for kids in the seven to 12 age group for behavioural and personality disorders, autism and hyperactivity, Times Online states, going on >>>
Professor Wong contends that children on anti-psychotic medication are more likely to die prematurely, something which may not be caused by the drug itself. “The mortality rate is much higher,” he said “It could be some underlying problems of the brain. It doesn’t show the drug is causing any deaths but there is this inequality.”
Professor Wong said that he was aware of a number of deaths of children with underlying incurable conditions such as Aids, so it was hard to establish whether the drugs played a part.
The increase in the use of the drugs has come at a time when Prozac and other similar drugs used to treat depression have gone out of patent.
In the US, the prescription for children of anti-psychotic drugs has increased along with the trend for behavioural problems to be diagnosed as manic depression, adds the story.
The increasing use of the drugs in Britain follows a huge rise in prescriptions in the US, says the BBC, continuing >>>
There, children as young as two are reportedly being diagnosed with conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and prescribed such anti-psychotic drugs accordingly.
In an unrelated story, in December last year, “Was a fake MySpace responsible for 13-year-old Megan Meier’s death?” – asked p2pnet.
“Or could it have been something else?”
Megan hanged herself in 2006, “and the popular explanation is she was crushed because of something said by a fake MySpace poster, allegedly created by someone in the Drew family, neighbours of the Meiers,” we said, going on >>>
But, “Widely used antidepressants double the risk of suicidal behavior in young adults, from around three cases per thousand to seven cases per thousand, according to a huge federal analysis of hundreds of clinical trials,” said the Washington Post almost exactly a year ago.
“It marks the first time regulators have acknowledged that the drugs can trigger suicidal behavior among patients older than 18,” it adds.
Two years earlier, “The Food and Drug Administration releases a long-awaited analysis of the possible risks posed by antidepressants to children and teens,” says NPR.
“The study comes on the heels of a report published earlier this week that showed Prozac can help alleviate depression in adolescents, but also raises the risk of suicidal behaviors.
“The new FDA analysis similarly concludes that young patients taking antidepressants could be at increased risk for self harm.”
On anti-psychotic drugs for British children, “Professor David Healy, an expert in psychological medicine at Cardiff University said anti-psychotic drugs should only be used on children with extreme caution and very irregularly,” says the BBC. “He said it was rare that they were really necessary.
“He said they had been shown to interefere with both the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. In addition, weight gain was a common side effect, raising the risk of diabetes.
Professor Healy said: ‘There is no end to the problems drugs can cause so we really need to restrict the conditions which people should get them for so that the risks are warranted’.”
Times Online – 3,000 children were given unlicensed anti-psychotic drugs despite safety fears, April 7, 2008
BBC – Fear over child tranquilliser use, April 7, 2008
p2pnet – Did MySpace fake cause Megan’s death?, December 5, 2007
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It’s really easy!
Subscribe
to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.phpNet access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details. Download here.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
This post confuses me. Is is about anti depressants or anti psychotics? Or both?
April 7th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Both.
Cheers!