Monday, December 10, 2007

Over medicating foster care children

Since we have become foster parents, I'm paying more attention to stories like this. Thus far, we have not been asked to medicate a child with psychotropic drugs. If asked, I would refuse to do so.

The whole article and the links to their research are worth a look.


Some fear medicines may put foster kids' future health at risk

After spending more than four years in foster care, 14-year-old Jessie Sayyeau returned this summer to his Rochester home with prescriptions for five different psychotropic drugs.


Prescribing 'off-label' The Democrat and Chronicle investigation shows that, between 2002 and 2006, the number of county foster children prescribed one or more psychotropic drugs increased about 40 percent, while the total number of foster children decreased slightly. Many of those psychotropic medications have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to address a particular disorder among children. They are prescribed "off-label," which means they can be prescribed for different purposes and to different age groups than those approved by the FDA.


According to county data, foster children on psychotropic drugs in 2002 were given, on average, prescriptions for 1.34 separate medications. In 2006, that number rose to 1.47 medications, a 10 percent increase.

In Texas, by comparison, the average number of psychotropic drugs used by a foster child prescribed medication was 2.55 in 2004, a study shows.

Because the brains of children are especially active and delicate, many psychiatrists and researchers worry that blending psychotropic drugs could lead to brain damage.




In essence, they are using foster children as guinea pigs. The foster care system is the perfect place to try out drug combinations on children without being hindered by informed consent or even parental consent.

Large clinical tests of children are uncommon, said Dr. Dianne Murphy, who heads FDA's office of pediatric therapeutics. "The fundamental underpinning of a trial is that the person who is participating does so at their own volition with the full comprehension of what they're doing."

This makes ethical clinical testing of children difficult, she said.


This statement sums up the situation:

"You're accepting a lot of uncertainty in regard to safety as well as no good assurances that children are benefiting," Zito said.



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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As you know, kids in foster care carry a lot of pain with them. That pain can manifest itself in so many ways and sometimes it is faster (note, I didn't say better) to deal with pain by medicating it than fixing it. As you noted previously, it is either the fence at the top of the hill or the ambulance at the bottom. But in this case, the ambulance at the bottom has the potential to cause even more pain.

Janine Cate said...

That pain can manifest itself in so many ways and sometimes it is faster (note, I didn't say better) to deal with pain by medicating it than fixing it.

So true. Also, it takes a higher level of parenting skills. Many adults don't have these skills and don't know where to start.