| Product | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abilify | $0 | $0 | $0 | $309,257 | $1,420,414 | $3,081,174 | $4,984,463 | $6,115,322 |
| Geodon | $0 | $41,565 | $129,088 | $212,560 | $295,085 | $390,794 | $437,207 | $397,331 |
| Haldol | $6,655 | $8,558 | $13,311 | $18,172 | $17,206 | $13,764 | $8,113 | $9,448 |
| Risperdal | $1,954,461 | $3,259,323 | $4,022,473 | $4,885,024 | $4,986,423 | $5,419,384 | $5,797,825 | $5,522,290 |
| Seroquel | $150,717 | $422,674 | $905,333 | $1,556,533 | $1,882,016 | $2,375,059 | $2,732,248 | $3,011,707 |
| Thorazine | $36,905 | $41,403 | $36,226 | $26,881 | $14,458 | $14,027 | $15,009 | $18,100 |
| Zyprexa | $751,867 | $1,270,683 | $1,504,897 | $1,719,372 | $1,594,270 | $1,282,623 | $1,271,629 | $1,107,777 |
New Jersey's Medicaid program spent more than $73 million on antipsychotic medications for children less than 18 years old between 2000 and 2007, according to state records, even though the drugs weren't approved by the FDA for treating kids. And a state official acknowledges the drugs may have been prescribed for conditions other than schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the approved uses. As a result, a state legislator is calling for an investigation and is formulating legislation.
"There are horror stories about these meds and there's a reason they're not prescribed for kids," says New Jersey assemblyman Pat Diegnan, who adds that he plans to draft a bill to change the practice and to hold talks with the New Jersey attorney general's office, which recently formed a task force to examine interactions between pharma and docs. "The entire issue is frightening and the state should be taking a closer look at this. I'm concerned about the casual prescribing by doctors and the enormous amount of money being spent."
The disclosure comes amid growing debate over antipsychotics. At issue are fears that children are misdiagnosed; drugs are inadequately studied; some docs presribe the pills too readily, and drugmakers promote the meds improperly. As reported previously, a growing number of states are suing various drugmakers over marketing that led Medicaid programs to pay unnecessarily for the meds.
Florida, for instance, is reviewing whether antipsychotics were prescribed improperly for ADHD. "There are no studies that have shown they (atypicals) are safe, or for that matter, that they are effective for children," Ronald Brown, a Temple University pediatric psychology professor who headed an American Psychological Association committee that examined the issue, told The St. Petersburg Times last year. "The bottom line is that the use of psychiatric medications far exceeds the evidence of safety and effectiveness."
UPDATE: Brown called us directly to say this: "The issue at hand is that the health care system is completely inadequate to deal with childrens' mental health needs. There's simply insufficient coverage for kids and adolescents....We don't know the long-term outcomes. So more research needs to be done and, simultaneously, more services need to be provided."
In their defense, New Jersey Medicaid officials say payments are made for any drug that is approved by the FDA, regardless of whether off-label usage is involved. "We don't practice medicine and we don't second guess prescribers," says Kaye Morrow, assistant director for Medicaid in the Department of Health's division of medical assistance and health services. "If there's an FDA approval for a drug and there's no restriction on a drug, we pay for it."
However, she adds that usage will be examined and data is being gathered by an outside contractor, Comprehensive NeuroScience, a consulting firm that helps states manage their drug costs. The practice, however, is controversial because Lilly, which markets Zyprexa, provides funding that pays for the firm's services. Such arrangements have been criticized elsewhere, because the drugmaker will monitor ’sloppy prescribing’ by docs, but only if a state agrees to let docs prescribe Zyprexa without first seeking permission from the state. A NJ health department spokeswoman maintains the state avoids this problem because its Medicaid program doesn't have a formulary and, therefore, a mechanism isn't in place to influence docs and their prescribing habits.
Meanwhile, though, the FDA has begun approving antipsychotics for youngsters of certain ages. Last summer, Johnson & Johnson's Risperdal was approved for schizophrenia in teenagers and bipolar disorder in children ages 10 to 17. Last fall, Bristol-Myers Squibb's Abilify was also approved for teenagers and Lilly's Zyprexa is being reviewed by the FDA for similar usage.
111 Comments
Causing potential harm to children ranks as one of the top evils one can commit. It's possible that these kids are so medicated with these psychotropic drugs is so that thier parents are exonerated then from any responsibility they may have for thier actions and behavior. So these parents allow doctors to prescribe such meds to these children so thier behavior will certainly not be a concern afterwards, as they will be altered remarkably, and perhaps permanently.
[...] NJ Legislator: Probe Antipsychotics, Kids & Medicaid Jump to Comments Pharmalot [...]
I believe America has lost faith in the FDA and now on top of that this NJ State Medicaid program is paying for antipsychotic drugs for children for ADHD that not even the FDA has approved!
Disgusting. State executives better wish they don't live in China. You may have heard what the government there does to Chinese who pull such blunders.
I hope that N.J does fully investigate this issue because it is too easy for this to get caught up in "meetings" and "committees" that won't really look at the fact that children are being prescribed drugs that can cause mania, violent behavior, diabetes, etc. The Medicaid office has to really answer up to how could they reimburse for these drugs.
These psychiatric drugs are dangerous especially for children in the short and long term. We need to stop prescribing these drugs for children.
these drugs should never be given to children, my grandson took some for hyper activity, which is only natural for children. What are doctors thinking of are they too lazy to figure out the problems if there are problems!
This is ridiculous. These drugs should be pulled off the market. Money hungry big pharma obviously dosen't care about peoples' well being.
Way to go Mr. Silverman!
Follow the money!
These drugs are wrong to administer to children. They are mind altering.
Thanks to Ed Silverman for putting this on the web! What a news story! I'm horrified! Think about it! How could we, taxpayers, be paying for children, little kids, to be put on anti-psychotics? I read that some children, as young as 6 years old, grow breasts while on these drugs. Talk about NEWS! There needs to be answers, clear regulations and no more back and forth on this type of thing.
Drugging children with these psychiatric drugs is a crime against humanity. We must spread the word and wake people up.
It's time to end this criminality. It's been devastating, not only for families, but for the future of America.
This is DISGUSTING, INSANE and MURDER! The FDA are contributing to murdering our future generation. The real question is, why are children or anyone for that matter being described anti psychotic medications? People were prescribed sedatives and given kind care and rest by nurses and medical doctors until they came back to health. Why is this not being done again to help people regain their sanity? And why isn't the cause of the insanity being found, namely stress. And who is causing the stress in the lives of these people? Psychiatry has NEVER ONCE IN IT'S HISTORY CURED ANYONE OF ANYTHING and lie to us that nothing can be done. This is complete, bogus garbage! Just look at the statistics prior to the 1950's of the state of sanity of the U.S. populace!
What the hell is happening with the world? Is it all of a sudden that people are born defective????
Let's not allow this nation to become a zombie nation run by pill-pushers!
How many deaths is it going to take to pull these drugs off of the market completely? These drugs are hypnotics! They put a person into a hypnotic state so that they can be influenced by anything, over and above any moral standards or ethical codes instilled in them. Furthermore, they are horrendously addicting; the withdrawal symptoms include psychosis, rages, physical pain, etc. (they are promoted as not addicting!). This means that 1) whoever is taking these drugs develops the above symptoms while taking the drugs, and these symptoms can only be relieved by taking larger and larger doses, and 2) people start to understand that they're being destroyed so they quit cold turkey -- and then we get major headlines like Virginia Tech and Illinois. Something must be done to stop these drugs completely. Per all of the testing finally disclosed, none of them work!
Any doctor who prescribes an antipsychotic for a disorder or syndrome for which there is no scientific test to prove that it exhists should be arrested for Treason (Betrayal after trust.) Any doctor who prescribes an antipsychotic to a anyone (especially a child)labeled with one of these bogus disorders or syndromes, and who benefits financially from this act, should further be accused of malpractice and fraud and have their license revoked.
I certainly hope that the pending investigation results in a product of real findings and that appropriate actions are taken. We all know how these meetings can get prolonged and tied up in red tape and never get anything done.
Well intentioned investigations of this sort can also get suppressed or stopped by the government, the lobbyists and the media through threats and intimidation to protect Big Pharma and the FDA. I hope that there are enough truly outraged citizens in these meetings and on the committees to not allow this to happen.
The FDA is a joke. They are funded by Big Pharma and serve Big Pharma's interests. They are not to be trusted.
I am so thankful that you are bringing this to people's attention.
My main attention is on the drugging of children.
But I think by bringing up the $$$$s that are being spent on the drugging of children seems to grab people's attention because it is "their" money paying for it.
Whatever it takes to bring people's awareness of the outragous number of children being drugged - go for it.
Again, thank you so much for what you are doing.
I hope our country’s citizens wake up to this horrible crime against children and Mankind that psychiatry and pharmaceutical companies are perpetrating!
There isn’t much worse you could do if you wanted to destroy a civilization and its future! The children are our future.
I agree with all of the above. Mr. Silverman has done a wonderful job and I hope he continues as Robert Whitaker has done with exposing and sharing the truth "Mad In America". Dr. Tracy also has exposed and appeared as an Eye Witness Expert on many occassions and she continues to battle for humans everywhere http://www.drugawareness.org. Dr. Fred Baughman, Jr. retired Pediatric Neurologist, Eye Witness Expert continues to fight for the truth against "brain diseases" versus DSM made up crap.
[...] More detail at Pharmalot, NJ Legislator- Probe Antipsychotics, Kids & Medicaid [...]
I agree with the observations that this is inappropriate drug utilization and would also point out that atypical antisychotics are also used at sub-clincal doses for nursing home patients to keep them manageable at night. This is another practice that has to be banned.
Atypical antipsychotics such as Zyprexa are acknowledged to cause frequent hyperglycemia leading often to permanent diabetes mellitus. What child wants a life, starting early, consisting of unnecessary daily insulin injections, ending in peripheral neuropathy, loss of feeling in hands and feet, and retinal separation, going blind gradually from "floaters" in the eyeball. As for typical, neuroleptic, antipsychotics such as stelazine, the Health Ministry of Finland has proven through extended clinical trial and statistical analysis, that neuroleptics cause 25 years premature death in schizophrenics, as compared with placebo administered to schizophrenics. Antipsychotics do nothing to cure schizophrenia or any other mental disorder. Strait jackets and leather humane restraints control violent behavior without doing near the permanent internal damage of antipsychotics, whether atypical or neuroleptic. Richard M. Greene, Ignacio, Colo.
FDA is supposed to be the watchdog of the pharmaceutical industry and instead they are the lapdog of the whole industry. Foster kids are on the wrong end of this and they are not being protected.
Love and protection from greedy doctors and companies is what our mentally ill truly need. The numbers don't lie folks.
Kids depend on us to care for them. Parents and adults who decide that normal childhood behavior is "wrong" or "disordered", and drugs it, are the enemies of our society. They are destroying life and the future generations by suppressing nature, rather than loving and caring for it. The high activity level of kids, their scattered interests and short attention spans, all have survival value. Depressing these is a force towards death, not life. It's the shrinks who should be forced down, not kids. Foster kids especially have no one to stand up for them. Cold, clinical authorities are rampantly diagnosing and drugging these kids, instead of supplying the love and care they lack in their parent-less states. It's very sad - and it's criminal what's being done.
The time has come to educate doctors and say goodbye to psychiatric drugs:
A medical technologist, I was misdiagnosed for 24 years. I am allergic to caffeine, but undereducated doctors couldn't diagnose a simple allergy to caffeine. Instead, doctors pushed psychiatric drugs. I refused the drugs. A good doctor diagnosed my allergy to caffeine, and I eventually recovered and researched.
Stressors, including caffeine and other approved poisons in our foods and beverages, cause so-called ADHD, mental illness, Parkinson's disease, and many other named disorders. The body has a second gear system. When under the influence of caffeine, other approved toxins, worry, alcohol, or a million other stressors, the body can shift. This shift causes so-called ADHD, mental illness, Parkinson's disease, and other named disorders.
The truth is in the biochemistry.
Diagnosis means the gods know what's wrong. In Gaelic, Dia means God. Gnosis means to know. And the real Father of Medicine is Chiron, a Celtic. Ancient doctors were gods. They knew what was wrong with their patients. Nowadays, many doctors are deficient in biochemistry knowledge, and they don't know what's wrong with patients. As they did with me, and hundreds of people who emailed me, many doctors make guess diagnoses, and they push drugs. It's that simple.
Ethically, Ruth Whalen, MLT (ASCP)
Doctors LIKE drugs, heh heh.
We are making the druglords of South America look like midgets...why are we "legally" drugging our own children like this? Something is wrong: The Psychiatrists are getting rich, and Big Pharmaceutical firms are paying them a ton from their drug profits.
I'll say they do! heh heh
But I like them most of all - I'm the head of Eli Lilly and CitiBank!
This drugging of of people, children in particular, is obviously not working and finally people begin to see not only that but the fact that it is criminal to do so. If the child or person really has a problem (and being a 4 year old who cannot pay that much attention in class is only the problem of the teacher and NOT a mental problem or disability) then you need to find a way into educating and helping get rid of the cause. NOT drug the person to keep them less active or to "numb" the problem. I think the more drugging the worst it gets.
I've seen a kid in my kid's school who was in his mid- teens with "Tardive Akathisia" who's only crime was to have an alcoholic Mother. The kid was supposedly diagnosed with ADD or ADHD at the age of 4 then with Tourette syndrome at 9 and so forth...Psychiatric drugs have iatrogenic effects which brings on physiological disorders and they should be totally banned...
Any comments Brian ?Nathan? Bob? ...
My granddaugher was diagnosed with ADD when she was about 8 and prescribed Risperdol. She lost her appetite, lost serious weight, had no appetite, was lethargic, suffered from insomnia developed stomach problems and lacked normal child emotions of pleasure and joy. She tried to get away with not taking them because of how they made her feel but got in trouble when discovered. It took me 2 years to convince her mother she didn't need and shouldn't be taking that drug. Giving children these drugs is criminal. On the part of the drug companies because they KNOW they're urging doctors to prescribe them for problems they're not meant to treat. On the part of doctors because: 1. they dispense them solely on the word of drug companies who it's common knowledge lie to us about their drugs harmful effects. 2. Few make any effort to responsibly monitor the drug use and effects on children.
These drugs are dangerous and should not be given to children (or adults). Look at all the school shootings and you will see that the kids doing them were on such drugs, or withdrawing such drugs. Big Pharma and Psychs are promoting murder in our schools, and states are paying for it!
In my 15 years as an insurance investigator, whenever I have had to interview children on such "medication" it always struck me as odd how they seemed...vacant, lacking mental clarity compared to children who were not on medications.
I've been forced to adopt a viewpoint from first hand experience that these types of medications do not belong anywhere near children, and don't get me started on my experience with adults, either!
It's the same story in Michigan. Eli Lilly is using Comprehensive Neuroscience in Michigan and pushing "off-label" Medicaid prescriptions of Zyprexa for kids with ADD/AHDH. I have presented all this to my state legislator Rep. Kathy Angerer (Health Policy Committee Chairperson) through her assistant Eric Candela all to no apparent result. If anyone out there is willing to take the time to email these people and politely tell them how important it is to investigate this issue please email Eric Candela at Ecandela@house.mi.gov and Rep. Kathy Angerer at kathyangerer@house.mi.gov. You could send a copy to Randy Thompson who is the Constituent Affairs Director in the Michigan Attorney General's office at thompsonr6@michigan.gov. Thanks so much.
I think you can measure the sanity of a society by how much "Legal" drugging it does. To see how these guys lobby to be allowed to drug three months old babies is distgusting. You know that money is the big motivator here. Nobody in their right mind can come up with ANY excuse for this behavior. They are lucky we are too "civilized" to deal properly with them. They all seem to have this love for inflicting pain on the masses under the guise of helping. Let's outlaw the lot!!
I cannot believe that these drugs are still allowed on the market. Even more surprising is how on earth they ever got to the market to begin with. I have no faith in the FDA. It really seems they are trying to either kill us or make us wish we were dead, so that we would have to take another one of their drugs to control the side effects (That is, if the first one didn't kill us first!!!!!!!!) Come on FDA, get with it! We don't want this garbage for our children. In fact, we won't even take it ourselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Psychosis and/ or schizophrenia generally develop in late teens. During early development of these diseases medication can have a benefit on the long term outcome. An unmedicated schizophrenic must be remanded to an institution. I guess it comes down to a question of diagnosis. If a young patient has been diagnosed as psychotic, the parents should get a second opinion before treatment or refuse treatment if they don’t trust pharmaceutical companies.
Way to go Ed!! Keep the pressure on these sleeze bags.
I cannot believe that these harmful drugs are being given to anyone let alone the kids of this country. I feel that i is a "solution" to a problem that not only doesn't handle the problem but makes it worse. The only one who benefits are the drug companies and their pushers and they should be brought up on criminal charges.
How many of us would have been medicated for our mischievous deeds as children? I got my rear end busted NOT medicated! We are losing our freedoms more and more each day - and now they are taking freedom away from our children. This is getting out of control.
There is little more threatening to the survival of our culture than the lucrative (for Pharma) epidemic of turning youth into life-long customers of their products and otherwise introducing adolescents and teenagers to a sanctioned lifestyle of mind and mood altering drugs. Funny how America became great way before our youth began being labeled wholesale with psychiatric disorders which were merely created and voted in by psychiatrists (a profession with historically the highest suicide rate and whose ranks are routinely convicted of crimes), and for which there are no scientific or medical test or validation to date.
Have a look at these hard-hitting PSAs that get across, loud and clear, why drugging kids is such an inhumane thing to do: http://www.cchr.org/psas/index.html?item=psa1
Zyprexa (Olanzapine) and Seroquel are used for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, dementia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), gambling addictions, and postpartum depression. Zyprexa and Seroquel cause Tardive Dyskinesia, diabetes, hyperglycemia, pancreatitis, and ketoacidosis. Eli Lilly has already agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle 28,500 lawsuits. Secret Zyprexa documents have been disclosed to the public by medical heroes at great personal risk. . Dr. Timothy Scott, author of, "America Fooled: The Truth about Antidepressants, Antipsychotics and How We've Been Deceived, reports a 2005 study that found there are approximately 30,000 children under 5 on these atypical anti-psychotic drugs. . Dr. Fred Baughman, author of "The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes "Patients" of Normal Children," reports that 10 million of the 50-million school children in the nation are on one or more psychiatric drugs and states: "This is death by psychiatry." . The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia recently found that 19% of children who were newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes were being treated with these new atypical anti-psychotic drugs which cause obesity and diabetes. . Risperdal (Risperidone) is an anti-psychotic medication by Janssen Pharmaceutical, Johnson & Johnson used for bipolar disorder. Serious side effects: Diabetes, Diabetic Coma, Hyperglycemia, Ketoacidosis, Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, Pancreatitis, Stroke, Tardive Diskinesia, Weight Gain, Death . http://jeffreydach.com/2007/08/26/protect-your-family-from-bad-drugs-by-jeffrey-dach-md.aspx . Protect Your Family from Bad Drugs . Jeffrey Dach MD http://www.drdach.com
We were supposed to say NO to drugs. When the medical doctors and psychs got involved, all of a sudden their drugs were no longer drugs but "prescriptions". These are still DRUGS. Drugs alter the physiological cell structures of the body which in turn affect the person trying to operate the body. Try driving a car with two hands tied behind your back. Same thing. The pharmaceutical companies want to SELL you the drugs. Have you noticed how many commercials for DRUGS have been on TV? They are drug dealers. Let's say NO to drugs and put all the drug dealers out of business! Our horrific school/work killing events will decline dramatically. I guarantee it! Joel Ervin
BETWEEN CPS STEALING OUR CHILDREN AND THE DOCTORS THAT USE THEM FOR LAB RATS AND THE ATTORNEYS IN WHICH ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN. DON'T YOU THINK IT IS TIME TO GET OUR CHILDREN BACK. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I NOT TALKING I AM DOING. WHEN MY SON WAS FIRST KIDNAPPED FROM ME I WENT TO THE GOVERNOR AND I BEGGED HIM TO HAVE AN INVESTIGATION DONE NOT JUST ON MY CHILD CASE BUT FOR ALL OUR CHILDREN CASES. WELL 6 WEEKS LATER MAY 9 2006 ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE DAILY BREEZE AND THE TIMES THEY ANNOUNCE THE (OIR)OFFICE OF INDEPENDENT REVIEW. THEIR JOB WAS TO OVER SEE DCFS LIKE THEY DID WITH THE LA RAMPORT POLICE DEPT FOR CORRUPTION.I HONESTLY DIDNT THINK THAT THEY DID ANYTHING, BUT THEN JUDGE DAVID MILTON DEPT 407 WHOM HAS BEEN KILLING OUR CHILDREN FOR YEARS, WHEN I CALLED HIM ON IT,HE SIMIPLY LOOKED AT ME, DIRECTLY IN TO MY EYES WITHOUT BLINKING AND SAID WITH AN ATTITUDE, THEIR WAS NOT A THING I COULD DO ABOUT IT! BY MY NEXT COURT DATE HE WAS OUT OF A JOB. I STILL DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY CREDIT ,BUT MAYBE IF WE START HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ONE CHILD AT A TIME.ONE THING I DO KNOW WE NEED MORE EXPOSURE THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT ACTUALLY BELEIF THAT THE PARENTS DESERVE LOSING THEIR CHILDREN IF WE CAN EDUCATE THEM.MAY BE WE CAN GET THE WORD OUT I PERSONALLY WOULD EDMUNDS CHILDREN COURTHOUSE. LET DO THE WALK NOT JUST THE TALK!
Great Job ED.....This is a BIGGIE!!! and an eyeopener I'm sure to many.....it horrify's me to think that my money contribute's in any way to the unecessary prescribing of these med's to children...
I looked over the comments of readers, and I did not find a single person who wants kids to be taking psychiatric drugs. It seems to me that legislators don't even listen to the people they legislate. It's so sad.
To say the obvious, lots of powerful interests involved. The "TMAP" program has itself become an expression of madness.
This is one more issue about which that I would like to see every candidate - on both state and federal levels - he pushed to take a specific position. Political party is irrelevant. The point is to make sure candidates address the issue directly - no wriggling, no squirming. This is as important as all the other healhcare issues about which he hear endless commentary.
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