[MF-NYS-NEWS] fwd: NY Post & NY youth psych. drugging

[David Oaks]

Forwarded article, feel free to forward.

For info about submitting letters to editor:

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/letters/letters_editor.htm

~~~~~~~~

3 February 2008

NY POST

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02032008/news/regionalnews/ 
medicaid_kids_in_psych_rx_urge_702469.htm

MEDICAID KIDS IN PSYCH-RX $URGE

By SUSAN EDELMAN susan.edelman at nypost.com  and MELISSA KLEIN

February 3, 2008 -- New York state's Medicaid program paid $82.8  
million in 2006 for two dozen psychiatric drugs for tens of thousands  
of children - with many of the meds not FDA-approved for kids,  
records obtained by The Post show.

Use of the powerful antipsychotics, anticonvulsants and  
antidepressants once prescribed only for adults has skyrocketed as  
moreNew York kids are diagnosed with mental illnesses and behavioral  
disorders.
But experts fear some children may be misdiagnosed, overmedicated and  
at risk for horrendous side effects such as diabetes, breast growth  
in boys and suicidal tendencies. Most of the drugs have not been  
thoroughly tested or studied on kids. The psychiatric drugs are  
generally used - and can be effective - in treatment of  
schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, autism, attention  
deficit-hyperactivity disorder, aggression and other behavior problems.

But state Health Department officials say they do not know what  
illnesses the children in the Medicaid program are suffering.

"Pharmacy claims do not require a diagnosis," a state Health  
Department spokeswoman said.
Claims are paid without question based on a doctor's judgment that  
the drug is "medically necessary," even when it's not approved for  
kids, Medicaid officials said. But they added that the state plans to  
look closer at how and why some drugs are prescribed.

The lucrative sale of the drugs also has drawn scrutiny from law- 
enforcement authorities in New York and other states. Several states  
are investigating whether pharmaceutical companies are illegally  
promoting the drugs to doctors "off label" - for uses not FDA approved.

Eli Lilly & Co. said last week it was subpoenaed by a federal grand  
jury in Pennsylvania seeking documents on the marketing of its best- 
selling antipsychotic, Zyprexa, which was prescribed to 2,647 New  
York Medicaid kids in 2006. Connecticut's attorney general has joined  
the probe.

John Milgrim, a spokesman for state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo,  
would not comment on the Zyprexa case, but told The Post: "We  
currently have open investigations regarding this kind of conduct.  
Marketing of pharmaceuticals for off-label usage may be a fraud on  
the state Medicaid program."

Risperdal was given to 17,393 New York Medicaid kids in 2006, making  
it the most heavily prescribed psychiatric drug in the program. It  
was recently approved by the FDA to treat autism but is also often  
prescribed for bipolar disorder in kids. It's blamed in lawsuits  
nationwide for side effects including diabetes caused by weight gain,  
Parkinson's-like movement disorders and gynecomastia, in which males  
grow breasts.

Stephen Sheller, a Philadelphia lawyer, said he has filed suits in  
New Jersey on behalf of four boys, ages 14 to 16 - two who underwent  
mastectomies.

"You blitz the kids, and they're under control," Sheller said, noting  
that the drugs often cause drowsiness. "They're out of it."

Dr. Mark Olfson, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University  
Medical Center, led a study published in September that found  
outpatient treatment of kids for bipolar disorder rose 40-fold from  
1994 to 2003. Doctors frequently prescribed the kids mood  
stabilizers, antipsychotics and antidepressants. The study found an  
"urgent need" to evaluate the drugs' safety and effectiveness.

Olfson said Friday that many kids need help. "The much greater  
problem is that we have large numbers of young people in the United  
States with mental-health problems who receive no treatment," he said.
Medicaid's 2006 expenditure of $82 million on psychiatric drugs for  
children was up $8 million from the previous year and $15 million  
from 2004. In all, Medicaid counted more than 85,000 child recipients  
of psychiatric drugs in 2006 but said that number duplicates kids who  
got two or more drugs.


fwd by: http://www.mindfreedom.org