Even babies getting treated as mentally ill

[Guest guest]

DRUGGED INTO SUBMISSION [ DAY 2 OF 2 ]

Even babies getting treated as mentally ill

Prescriptions on the rise even though they haven't been tested on

children

Doctors prescribed sedatives and powerful, mood-altering medications

for nearly 700 Ohio babies and toddlers on Medicaid last summer,

according to a Dispatch review of records.

There's no doubt that mentalhealth drugs can help troubled

youngsters, whether they're on the government insurance program for

the poor or not. But dozens of advocates, child-welfare workers and

psychiatrists interviewed by The Dispatch question the wisdom of

prescribing potent medications, most of which have never been tested

on kids, for so many young, vulnerable children.

``It's shocking, " said Dr. Ellen Bassuk, associate professor of

psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. ``Who's really being helped by

these children being drugged? The babies? Or their caregivers? [Or

Big Pharma]

``These medications are not benign; they can have dangerous side

effects and have to be closely monitored. "

Federal officials have long required that drugs be screened for

safety in adults. But less than one-fourth have been tested on

children.

``Kids are not little adults, " said Dr. Goetz, assistant

medical director for the state Department of Mental

Health. ``Children's brains are different. They don't fully develop

until after adolescence. "

That often leaves doctors with more questions than answers about the

long-term effects of many drugs on children.

Physical side effects can range from headaches, nausea and weight

gain to heart attacks, liver damage and sudden death.

Psychological effects remain a mystery. But several antidepressants

carry FDA-required warnings that they can increase the risk of

suicide. Some antipsychotics have caused learning problems in 3- to

6-year-olds.

``It seems a growing number of yesterday's wonder drugs, such as

Adderall, have turned into today's suicide pills, " said

Wissler, a parent advocate for the Mental Health Association of

Summit County.

In February, Canada pulled the attention-deficit hyperactivity drug

from the market, saying it was related to 20 sudden deaths. The U.S.

Food and Drug Administration reviewed those deaths last year and

determined Adderall should carry a warning that it not be prescribed

to people with heart trouble.

A Westerville woman watched her daughter's high spirits disappear

under the influence of Paxil, which she was taking for anxiety.

``The stuff did not work for her, and it was in weaning her after

only two apparently ineffective weeks that we saw the horrifying

effects we now know are typical, " said Lucy, who asked that her full

name not be used, to protect her child's identity.

Lucy noticed the drug's effect 2½ years ago, the night of her

daughter's 11 th birthday.........

http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?

story=dispatch/2005/04/25/20050425-A1-00.html