Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Industry’s Role in Childrens’ Antipsychotics

When Anya Bailey developed an eating disorder after her 12th birthday, her mother took her to a psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota who prescribed a powerful antipsychotic drug called Risperdal. Anya Bailey has a painful nerve condition called dystonia, in which the muscles in her back clench as a result of taking an antipsychotic drug.

Created for schizophrenia, Risperdal is not approved to treat eating disorders, but increased appetite is a common side effect and doctors may prescribe drugs as they see fit. Anya gained weight but within two years developed a crippling knot in her back. She now receives regular injections of Botox to unclench her back muscles. She often awakens crying in pain.

Isabella Bailey, Anya’s mother, said she had no idea that children might be especially susceptible to Risperdal’s side effects. Nor did she know that Risperdal and similar medicines were not approved at the time to treat children, or that medical trials often cited to justify the use of such drugs had as few as eight children taking the drug by the end.

READ MORE @ New York Times

Mental Health Law Should Stress Coordinated Care, Lawmakers Told

Federal grants should do a better job of tying scattered local treatment services into comprehensive plans of care for those with mental illnesses, substance abuse problems or both, witnesses and lawmakers said at a Senate, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing Tuesday.

Grants shouldn’t dictate the details of treatment programs but should be awarded based on the results those programs get, witnesses said Tuesday.

“Everybody’s problem is a little bit unique,” observed North Carolina Republican Senator Richard M. Burr, who emphasized that local communities know best the nature of their substance abuse problems, for example. “Outcome measures” evaluating programs rather than the “processes” those programs follow should be key, Burr said. “In this town, we don’t hear outcome, we hear process and that’s disturbing to me.”

READ MORE @ CQ.com

LISTEN & LEARN @ full hearing transcript