Antipsychotic Use by Children

     The number of children taking antipsychotic drugs has tripled over the last decade or so. Mental illness is not increasing. Doctors are prescribing these drugs for behavior problems which are not approved by the FDA ( called "off label" use). There is little evidence these drugs help children for the problems for which they have been approved, much less for these unapproved uses.
     Children who are placed on these drugs as young as two years of age are at increased risk for weight gain, type-2 diabetes, and elevated cholesterol levels. Little is known about how these drugs and affect the developing brain.
     Much of the increased prescription of these antipsychotic medications to children was due to aggressive marketing of "off label" use of the drugs by just one company, Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The company recently paid a fine of 2.2 billion dollars to settle criminal and civil claims resulting from deceptively marketing antipsychotic drugs. They were guilty of paying kickbacks to physicans and pharmacies for promoting the drugs, minimizing risks, and promoting use of the drugs for situations that had not been proven safe.
Reference:
Click here for an article by Consumer Reports on this topic.