Are food dyes linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children? The Food and Drug Administration is publicly considering that question for the first time in years.
According to the Detroit News, a 56-year-old woman faces multiple felony charges and is being held on $500,000 bond after a 10-hour standoff with police, claiming she was protecting her 13-year-old daughter from unnecessary medication. The story which led to this incident, as reported in the Detroit News and The Voice of Detroit, is quite disturbing.
In June of 2010, the US Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigatory arm of the Federal Government, to investigate the prevalence of prescribed psychotropic medications for children in foster care.
Add “Facebook depression” to potential harms linked with social media, an influential doctors’ group warns, referring to a condition it says may affect troubled teens who obsess over the online site.
The article entitled Dumbing Down Society Part I: Foods, Beverages and Meds discussed the current trend of loading this generation’s youth with prescription drugs, namely Ritalin. Well the trend is definitely not fading and it has been observed that drugs are being prescribed to increasingly younger children. Can we really give a four year-old child an “Attention Deficit Disorder” diagnosis? Which four year old DOESN’T lack attention? Should we drug them all? Here’s an article from The Guardian on the subject.
Young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had mixed results when treated with the nonstimulant drug atomoxetine (Strattera), according to outcomes from a randomized clinical trial.
Children as young as four are being given Ritalin-style medication for behavioural problems in breach of NHS guidelines, the Guardian has discovered, prompting the leading psychological society to call for a national review.
Children as young as four are being given Ritalin-style medication for behavioural problems in breach of NHS guidelines, the Guardian has discovered, prompting the leading psychological society to call for a national review.
For some time now, Sheila Matthews has been suspicious about her home state of Connecticut’s treatment of its most vulnerable children. As a mother of two children and co-founder of Ablechild, her instincts led her to scrutinize the dubious relationships among Connecticut’s Department of Children and Family Services [DCF], the pharmaceutical industry and a billion dollar law firm who has defended the likes of Pfizer Inc and Merck & Co., among others.
Rhode Island is expected to receive $908,838 from a $68.5 million settlement with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP from alleged improper marketing of Seroquel, an antipsychotic drug.
AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) will pay $68.5 million to 37 states and the District of Columbia in a settlement over the British drugmaker's deceptive marketing of its anti-psychotic drug Seroquel. The settlement is the largest multi-state, consumer protection pharmaceutical settlement of record, reports Reuters. Regulators accused the company of unfair and misleading marketing of the drug for unapproved uses. While physicians can prescribe medication for other uses, companies are not allowed to market drugs beyond approved uses. The company promoted Seroquel, which was only approved for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, for dementia, depression and anxiety as well. The accusation also states AstraZeneca failed to fully disclose of potential side effects and the negative results of a scientific study about the drug's safety and effectiveness. Seroquel had worldwide 2010 sales of $5.3 billion. Paula Dow, attorney general of New Jersey, said, "This case sends a message that we take seriously the duty pharmaceutical companies have to supply clear, accurate and complete information about their products to health care providers, and to market their products without deception or misleading claims." Tony Jewell, a company spokesman, said of the settlement, "While we deny the allegations, AstraZeneca believes it is important to bring these matters to a close and move forward with our business of providing medicines to patients."
When Tarah Ausburn, a former English teacher at Imagine Prep High School in Surprise, Ariz., refused to remove a bumper sticker from her car that asked the question, "Have you drugged your kids today?" officials fired her, according to reports from KPHO CBS 5 in Phoenix. The sticker, which Ausburn told reporters makes a statement about the over-medication of today's children, sits among 60 other controversial stickers that may have also played a role in her dismissal.
I used to work as a psychiatric technician (read: glorified baby sitter with Bachelor’s Degree) on a children’s mental health crisis unit at an urban hospital. I could go on for hours about the heartache, trauma, and anguish of suicidal seven year-olds and anorexic eight year-olds, but today I want to talk about the treatment – specifically, the medication.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is strengthening warnings on topiramate, an antiseizure drug that is also used to prevent migraines, because new data suggest an increased risk of birth defects when used during pregnancy.
An Oxford-based company claims to be helping people learn to read with the aid of fart machines.
"Our approach is to diagnose the underlying cause of reading difficulty and then deal with it. The most common pattern is lots of guessing, particularly with short words," says David Morgan, company CEO. "If you have seen that, we can help."
