Off-Label Antipsychotic Use Among Children Soaring

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Researchers from Philadelphia and Baltimore find, in a study of Medicaid records for 50 states and the District of Columbia, that antipsychotic prescribing to Medicaid-enrolled children increased 62% from 2002 to 2007. Although proportionally more youth with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or autism received antipsychotics, by 2007 youth with ADHD accounted for 50 percent of the total antipsychotic use. The authors express concern about the need for efficacy data, in light of safety concerns.

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Matone, M., Localio, R., et al; The Relationship between Mental Health Diagnosis and Treatment with Second-Generation Antipsychotics over Time: A National Study of U.S. Medicaid-Enrolled Children. Health Services Research, online September 4, 2012

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Kermit Cole
Kermit Cole, MFT, founding editor of Mad in America, works in Santa Fe, New Mexico as a couples and family therapist. Inspired by Open Dialogue, he works as part of a team and consults with couples and families that have members identified as patients. His work in residential treatment — largely with severely traumatized and/or "psychotic" clients — led to an appreciation of the power and beauty of systemic philosophy and practice, as the alternative to the prevailing focus on individual pathology. A former film-maker, he has undergraduate and master's degrees in psychology from Harvard University, as well as an MFT degree from the Council for Relationships in Philadelphia. He is a doctoral candidate with the Taos Institute and the Free University of Brussels. You can reach him at [email protected].

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