Comments on: Increased Use of Antipsychotics in Children (and Young Children) Criticized

By: Top Posts from the Past Two Weeks

Top Posts from the Past Two Weeks — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:41:12 +0000

[...] Increased Use of Antipsychotics in Children (and Young Children) Criticized More than 389,000 children and teenagers were treated with Risperdal—an atypical antipsychotic—last year. And, 240,000 of them were 12 years old or younger. [...]

By: Wall of shame, psychiatric version « Follow Me Here…

Wall of shame, psychiatric version « Follow Me Here… — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:45:38 +0000

[...] Increased Use of Antipsychotics in Children (and Young Children) Criticized [...]

By: Ecki

Ecki — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:20:43 +0000

Well, my daughter is 4 and has recently started Risperdal. Actually, her doc wanted to start her a year ago at age 3. I should point out that she has NO “behaviors” so it wasn’t a necessity. But we did a whole year of ABA and we just can’t get her motivated or to pay attention or engage. And without those basic building blocks, she can’t LEARN. So, with much trepidation, we started. We have seen some improvement, while we hadn’t seen much after a year of intensive ABA. We’re still doing the ABA and the data shows a marked improvement when we started the Risperdal. I’m still debating if all the risk and side effects (like the nonstop eating!) is worth it. And the developmental pediatrician’s answer to the nonstop eating is to add a stimulant. Great, another drug. I’m very conflicted about the whole thing, but I can’t just let my kid go through life without the ability to learn anything. And we’ve tried just about every behavioral and educational intervention out there. She’s just “tough to reach and tough to teach”.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:00:14 +0000

Judith Warner writes about the increased use of Risperdal and also about the revisions in the DSM-V in Tough Choices for Tough Children.

By: Tara

Tara — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:23:04 +0000

I don’t know what to say. One one hand, it seems that antipsychotics are being given out as candy for whole range of suspicious and ‘off label’ uses. On the other hand, good chunk of the people who really and truly need them are either not treated properly or have trouble getting their medication covered by insurance.

I know an elderly gentleman whose wife specifically requires injectable Risperdal treatment for her bipolar disorder due to a history of treatment non-compliance. He went to hell and back trying to get injectable form covered by insurance and they still owe around $15,000 since insurance company would not retroactively reimburse them for treatment she got before their approval.

By: Regan

Regan — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:08:41 +0000

Also, Doctors Say Medication Is Overused in Dementia June 24, 2008 NYTimes Researchers estimate that about a third of all nursing home patients have been given antipsychotic drugs. The increases continue despite a drumbeat of bad publicity. A 2006 study of Alzheimer’s patients found that for most patients, antipsychotics provided no significant improvement over placebos in treating aggression and delusions...The agency[FDA] has not approved marketing of these drugs for older people with dementia, but they are commonly prescribed to these patients “off label...Nevertheless, many doctors say misuse of the drugs is widespread. “These antipsychotics can be overused and abused,” said Dr. Johnny Matson, a professor of psychology at Louisiana State University. “And there’s a lot of abuse going on in a lot of these places.”...

By: Regan

Regan — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:07:21 +0000

Placebo Works Equally Well As Antipsychotics For Aggression In The Intellectually Disabled
January 2008
“A new UK study found that placebo was just as effective at treating aggressive challenging behaviour in intellectually disabled patients as antipsychotic drugs and the researchers recommended antipsychotics no longer be regarded as an acceptable routine treatment for this group…”

A swallow does not make a summer, but findings such as this suggest that there might not be as much known about administration of antipsychotic drugs as is sometimes put forth, and that routine administration might not be best practice.

Paper: Risperidone, haloperidol, and placebo in the treatment of aggressive challenging behaviour in patients with intellectual disability: a randomised controlled trial.”
Peter Tyrer, Patricia C Oliver-Africano, Zed Ahmed, Nick Bouras, Sherva Cooray, Shoumitro Deb, Declan Murphy, Monica Hare, Michael Meade, Ben Reece, Kofi Kramo, Sabyasachi Bhaumik, David Harley, Adrienne Regan, David Thomas, Bharti Rao, Bernard North, Joseph Eliahoo, Shamshad Karatela, Anju Soni, Mike Crawford.
The Lancet, Vol. 371, Issue 9606, 5 January 2008, Pages 57-63.
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60072-

By: Ed

Ed — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:51:03 +0000

At the time when David was at his worst, they wanted to put him on welbutrin. I would not do it because while his behaviors were disruptive at times they never were dangerous. We had to find our own way.

By: David N. Andrews M. Ed. (Distinction)

David N. Andrews M. Ed. (Distinction) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:44:43 +0000

Christina: Giving a antipsych to a child who already has a neurological disorder just can’t be good.

Trust me, it isn’t.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:49:05 +0000

@Regan,
still taking a deep breath after reading that true story.

and an FBA and consideration of teaching needs to be the first thing considered—-not medication.