“ . . . No one is really paying attention to what’s going on. . . The issue is how many Medicaid kids are being drugged to death, not how many kids in fostercare are being over medicated."
Grace E. Jackson, M.D., Author: Rethinking Psychiatric Drugs: A Guide for Informed Consent
and Drug-Induced Dementia: A Perfect Crime

via Newswise:

National Study Cites Increased Off Label Antipsychotic Drug Use Among Children

Released: 9/10/2012 9:15 AM EDT
Source: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Newswise — Philadelphia ⎯ A national study conducted by researchers at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) shows increased use of powerful antipsychotic drugs to treat publicly insured children over the last decade. The study, published today in the journal Health Services Research, found a 62 percent increase in the number of Medicaid-enrolled children ages 3 to 18 taking antipsychotics, reaching a total of 354,000 children by 2007.

Increased antipsychotic use was observed across a wide range of mental health diagnoses, and was particularly high for children with ADHD or conduct disorder, although the FDA has not approved the drugs to treat these conditions in children. In total, 65% of children prescribed antipsychotics in 2007 were using the drugs “off-label,” or without FDA safety and efficacy data to support their use to treat young patients. The CHOP study is the second released this month that focuses on the use of antipsychotic drug use in children and is largest of its kind, representing 35% of children in the country.

“Given the significant proportion of off-label use of antipsychotics in children, it is reassuring that these drugs have been recognized as a priority for pediatric research by the National Institutes of Health,” said David M. Rubin, MD, MSCE, a senior author of the study, attending pediatrician, and co-director of CHOP’s PolicyLab. “If a child is prescribed an antipsychotic, it’s important for doctors to inform parents and caregivers if the drug is being prescribed off-label, of potential side effects, and of counseling therapies that might be offered as an alternative to medication.”

The frequent off-label use of antipsychotics has raised concern among many health care providers, especially in light of evidence linking antipsychotics with an increased risk of serious metabolic side effects in children, including weight gain and diabetes. (emphasis mine)

The researchers note that the increase in antipsychotic use is due to in part to an overall increase in the number of mental health diagnoses assigned to children. Researchers found a 28 percent increase in the number of children with a mental health diagnosis, but this alone did not account for the spike in prescriptions. read the rest here

Let's be real off label prescriptions for a class of drugs that are not very effective for the diagnosis of schizophrenia, the diagnosis the drugs were originally approved and prescribed for, have become the most prescribed drugs for children on Medicaid due to FRAUD and UNETHICAL medical practice, and because Medicaid is seen as a sure source of income by the corrupt drug companies...

< French neuroleptique, equivalent to neuro- neuro- +-leptique < Greek lēptikós disposed to take, equivalent to lēp- (verbid stem of lambánein to seize) + -tikos -tic;

So what we have is criminal medical professionals who have decided it's ok to give children drugs that seize the nerves and cause serious iatrogenic, i.e. physician caused, neurological and physiological impairments. We are being told that this has "raised concern" among professionals. Well it's done much more than raised my concern! I am outraged. When are people going to wake up to the fact that statements like "it is reassuring that these drugs have been recognized as a priority for pediatric research by the National Institutes of Health" mean that the prescribing of the neuroleptic drugs off label is without any evidence to support it!!!! and conducting drug trials to collect evidence to support what is being done in STANDARD PRACTICE is UNETHICAL and is backwards!!! Theoretically standards are derived from empirical evidence; in reality, they are implemented by a vote and are without definitive empirical support of a drug's effectiveness or safety when prescribed off label to children.

My son's childhood was ruined by these drugs, he is a Risperdal victim, who was a victim of violent crime, needed the recommended treatment for his PTSD and his BRAIN INJURY. Instead, he was drugged into a state of disability. Does that sound like evidence-based mental health care or a "best practice" to you?

Let's be clear: the neuroleptic drugs cause more than metabolic issues; they cause brain damage, cardio-vascular damage, hormonal dysfunction, among other things. Children have dropped dead as a result of psychiatry's Standard Practice of using teratogenic psychotropic drugs off label.

via psychrights.org