A new study reports that American children are about three times likelier to be prescribed psychotropic medications than children in Europe. The study states that the differences may be attributable to regulatory practices and cultural beliefs about the role of medication in emotional and behavioral problems.
Julie Zito led the team comprised of researchers from the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands. The group investigated prescription levels in the three countries. Zito reported that, “Antidepressant and stimulant prevalence were three or more times greater in the U.S. than in the Netherlands and Germany, while antipsychotic prevalence was 1.5 to 2.2 times greater.” The use of antidepressants, such as Prozac, and stimulants, such as Ritalin, in children has been the subject of much controversy; this study is believed to quantify the differences in practice between the US and Western Europe.
Study authors believe the differences may be partly due to different diagnostic classification systems. For instance, “The US trend of increasing bipolar diagnosis in children and adolescents does not reflect European practice.” The team also discussed government cost restrictions in Europe, the increased amount of child psychiatrists per capita in the U.S., as well as the U.S. practice of using two or more different psychotropic drugs in a single year as possible explanations. “Direct to consumer drug advertising, which is common in the U.S., is also likely to account for some of the differences. The increased use of medication in the US also reflects the individualist and activist therapeutic mentality of US medical culture,” Zito added.
Earlier this month we reported about one million children and teenagers are treated for schizophrenia and prescription rates for atypicals—the anti-psychotic drugs most prescribed for these disorders—have increased more than five-fold for children over the past 15 years and are also being used to control outbursts and aggression in children with a wide variety of diagnoses representing about 80 percent of the prescriptions written for maladies such as autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety, despite the drugs’ serious side effects. Some uses are off-label, or not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Approximately three million Americans suffer from schizophrenia and about 20 percent begin to show symptoms as children or teens.
Meanwhile, state officials are finding atypical antipsychotics have become the largest drug class in Medicaid and many question if this is due to marketing or need; several states are suing drug makers for off-label promotion and commissioning “ghost-written” articles to increase use. But, drug makers continue to obtain new approvals from the FDA to treat more conditions. In the last two years, Risperdal received approval to treat schizophrenia in adolescents and the irritability of autism in children ages five to 16. Nicola Huff, whose son, John Aaron, took Risperdal for seven years to resolve behavioral problems said at age 14, he developed female-sized breasts that had to be surgically removed. Tammy Wandling, whose son Austin has autism, said a psychiatrist put him on Risperdal at age four. In less than nine months, Austin developed a baseball-size growth in his right breast. Research suggests Risperdal can cause an increase in the hormone prolactin, which causes breasts to enlarge and produce milk.
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