Alaska psychiatrists accused of wrongly medicating children

Alaska psychiatrists accused of wrongly medicating children

An Alaska mental health advocacy group that has spent years battling the pharmaceutical industry over medication is suing more than a dozen Alaska child psychiatrists, saying the doctors unnecessarily drugged children and committed Medicaid fraud.

The dangers of false certainty

The dangers of false certainty

We all -- physicians and patients -- must face up to our unavoidable ignorance on medical issues, and still try to make wise decisions

Can a pill cure intellectual disabilities?

The ability to improve an intellectually disabled person’s IQ sounds like science fiction, and not so long ago it was – but that is changing.

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This Might Hurt

Anna Dragsbaeck has worked quietly for years to build support for expanding the state’s immunization registry, a database of vaccines given to Texans. Now the executive director of the Texas-based Immunization Partnership is ready for the spotlight: She and her allies are asking lawmakers to include all Texans in the registry. They’ll make their case before an influential Senate committee this month — and face an impassioned and formidable group of privacy proponents and anti-immunization parents.

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Massachusetts Mom Found Guilty of Daughter's Fatal Overdose

Massachusetts Mom Found Guilty of Daughter's Fatal Overdose

A Massachusetts woman was convicted of second-degree murder Tuesday in the fatal prescription drug overdose of her 4-year-old daughter.

Attorney to Sue Doctors Who Misuse Drugs on Children

It’s true that the drug industry was hard hit last year with some pretty hefty fines for the illegal off-label promotion of drugs — $1.4 billion against Eli Lilly for its off-label promotion of Zyprexa and $2.3 billion against Pfizer for doing the same with several drugs. But such fines, many say, are still considered the cost of doing business in an industry that raked in close to $300 billion in U.S. drug sales in 2008 (and more in 2009), according to IMS Health Reports.

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Considering the Dangers of Not Medicating Children Who Really Need It

People are pretty vocal about what they perceive to be the dangers of diagnosing and medicating children who have psychiatric disorders, and you can find plenty of horror stories, including the case of Rebecca Riley, but what about the dangers of not medicating children who fail to respond to non-medication interventions and could really benefit with the right diagnosis and medications?

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Fatal Misunderstandings About Reactive Attachment Disorder

When I began this blog, I chose the name "child myths" because of my concern about misunderstandings that are potentially harmful to children. As some readers know, my interest in this issue began some years ago with a study of so-called Attachment Therapy and its role in the death of Candace Newmaker in 2000 (described in Mercer, J., Sarner,L., & Rosa, L. [2003], "Attachment Therapy On Trial". Westport, CT: Praeger). The fact that other children have also died at the hands of parents acting on the instructions of unconventional therapists has also motivated me to pursue the correction of "child myths".

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Oregon shouldn't permit psychologists to prescribe medication

Under pressure from out-of-state interests, our Legislature is about to consider passage of Senate Bill 1046, enabling psychologists to prescribe medication. This bill would jeopardize the safety of our citizens while creating unnecessary costs. The work group proposing the bill held only five sessions, without public testimony. Remarkably, one member of the work group was from California (and required a temporary Oregon license to participate) and heads a distance-learning post-doctoral psychology training program in clinical psychopharmacology that stands to benefit from the bill's passage. I hope that the Legislature will defer judgment on such an important issue to a regular session during which full and open testimony can be offered.

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Denver boy, 9, died after state-benefits error denied him meds

A Montbello mother says her 9-year-old son's death from severe asthma could have been prevented had Denver Human Services resolved problems with his Medicaid pharmacy benefits.

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Girls with ADHD show other mental health risks

Girls with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are more likely than their peers to develop depression, anxiety, eating disorders or other psychiatric problems by the time they reach adulthood, a new study suggests.

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Vaccine Study Retracted, and Causes of Autism Remain Elusive

In 1998, the medical journal The Lancet published a study suggesting that the childhood MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine was tied to autism. On Tuesday, the journal retracted the study, saying in an editorial that key aspects of the paper—in which Andrew Wakefield reported that 12 children he studied had experienced a sudden onset of autism symptoms after getting MMR shots—were false.

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Parents React to Autism Study Retraction

A prestigious medical journal says a controversial study linking autism to a vaccine is flawed. The retraction by The Lancet is a big blow to many parents who believe the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is indirectly to blame for their child's condition.

Problems Faced By Children With Prescription Drugs

Sometimes physicians prescribe drugs which are not required and which are not permitted for children. Drugs, which have dangerous side effects and are toxic in nature, can lead to death. The prescription of psychotropic drugs to children is considered as one the most faulty features of medical practice.

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Sports coach spiked children's food and drink with drugs so he could molest them, court told

A SPORTS coach plied children with spiked milkshakes and drug-laced macaroni so he could molest and film them, a court has heard.

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Zyprexa Side Effects for Children Lead to Revised FDA Warnings

The FDA has required the drug maker Eli Lilly to update the warning label for their popular antipsychotic Zyprexa about potential weight-gain side effects among children.

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Children and Prescription Drugs

Prescription medication can manage many serious medical and mental illnesses. But if not handled properly, it can also be the cause of just as many and more problems because of side effects, misuse and abuse, and addiction. Unfortunately, children are often the ones who suffer the long-term consequences from prescription drugs.

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Fewer children drug poisoned

The number of children admitted to hospital with drug poisoning has fallen to its lowest level in four years, new figures show.

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Diabetes Drug Helps Dieting Teens Lose Weight

A medication used to treat type 2 diabetes appears to help overweight teenagers lose weight when combined with a program designed to help them change their lifestyle habits, researchers report.

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ER physician says overdose killed Rebecca Riley

On Thursday, a Children’s Hospital pathologist said Rebecca Riley could have died from a combination of pneumonia and toxic amounts of a prescription drug. But an emergency room doctor from the same hospital was not hesitant on Friday.

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