And increasing numbers of young wards were diagnosed withbipolar disorder and given a class of anti-psychotic medicines that some physicians consider risky for youths because they can cause such side effects as metabolic abnormalities and pronounced weight gain.
The number of Illinois wards diagnosed with bipolar disorder nearly doubled between 2000 and 2007, when roughly 9 percent of the state's nearly 16,000 wards were diagnosed as bipolar, the Tribune found.
"This is a really concerning statistic," said Dr. Michael Naylor, a University of Illinois at Chicago psychiatrist who reviews psychotropic medicine regimens for the state Department of Children and Family Services. Naylor said he worries that drug firms' marketing efforts are driving the diagnoses.
1 comment:
"the information in the review indicates that asenapine causes pulmonary arterial hypertension and cardiac effects....I do not believe there is anything we can do that would adequately educate physicians and patients to the risks and with off-label use we will be looking at an epidemid oc potential lethal cardiac and pulmonary toxicities several years from now."
FDA Review of the antipsychotic Asenapine (Saphris - Merck)
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/Drugs/PsychopharmacologicDrugsAdvisoryCommittee/UCM173877.pdf
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