Since the Vioxx scandal broke in late 2004, most Americans are all too familiar with the idea that prescription drugs can be dangerous and even deadly. But how would America react if it were to discover that a class of drugs being primarily prescribed to children was also dangerous and sometimes deadly?
According to a May 2006 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, side effects and "problems" with widely prescribed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) drugs send 3,100 people to the ER every year -- 80 percent of them children.
"Problems" most often include overdosing or accidental use, and side effects can include chest pain, high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, stroke and sudden death. Between 1999 and 2003, 25 deaths linked to ADHD drugs were reported to the FDA, 19 involving children. In addition, 54 cases of other serious heart problems were reported, including strokes and heart attacks.
Considering that roughly 3.3 million Americans who are 19 or younger, and 1.5 million who are 20 and older, are currently taking ADHD drugs -- with those numbers constantly rising -- it is safe to assume that the number of ADHD-drug-related hospitalizations will also continue to increase. Given these revelations about the risky nature of ADHD drugs, one might wonder what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is doing to warn consumers of these popular stimulants.
In February 2006, an FDA advisory panel voted 8-7 in favor of including its most serious "black box" warning on ADHD drugs, but the very next month, a different FDA panel instead voted to put information on cardiac and other risks in a new, special "highlights" section of prescription drug inserts.
Dr. Steven Nissen, chief of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic, criticized the FDA's decision in the April 6 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine: "I believe that the appearance of information in the 'highlights' section of the drug label will have virtually no effect on prescribing practices." Think back to the last time you picked up a prescription from the pharmacy. Did you look at the information pamphlet inside the bag, or did you go straight for the pill bottle, assuming that your prescription was safe?
In a letter appearing in the same NEJM issue, the heads of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association -- Dr. Thomas Anders and Dr. Steven Sharfstein -- contradicted Nissen's argument that a "black box" warning on ADHD drugs was necessary for patient safety: "We agree that patient safety is paramount and that the long-term benefits and risks of stimulant treatment are not known definitively, yet we are concerned that such a warning will discourage patients and their families from using effective treatment."
In his rebuttal in the April 6 issue, Nissen replies, "I strongly disagree. I cannot accept the paternalistic notion that patients and caregivers are better off without information about drug risks. The presence of a black-box warning and a mandatory patient guide would probably stimulate useful discussions among patients, parents, and physicians about risks. An appropriate warning might also slow the exponential growth in the use of amphetamines and similar stimulants, which has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, resulting in the treatment of nearly 10 percent of preadolescent boys."
The "exponential growth" Nissen refers to has garnered national attention in recent years, and has left many wondering what brought it about. Was there a sudden outbreak of ADHD in the past decade? Was there something in the water causing children to suddenly fall victim to this behavioral disorder? In September 2000, PBS Frontline ran a special called "The Ritalin Explosion," during which the show interviewed child psychologist Harvey Parker, co-founder of the non-profit organization Children and Adults with ADD (CHADD). Frontline asked Parker what had changed among the general public to bring about the rise in ADHD diagnoses and prescriptions for medical treatment.
Parker replied that "several things" caused the increase in ADHD drug prescriptions, including more parents having their kids examined, and doctors understanding that "medication was an appropriate treatment for ADHD, not a last-resort treatment, but in some cases, a first-resort treatment." Parker continued, "We realized that kids with ADHD don't have to stop taking medication when they become adolescents. We used to think that stimulant medication would stunt growth. We realize that that doesn't happen. So we continued prescribing medications to these children through adolescence."
Source : Source : http://www.naturalnews.com
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