© Sean O’Carrol
A image from Sean O'Carroll's exhibition entitled 'Ritalin'
A image from Sean O'Carroll's exhibition entitled 'Ritalin'
The Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP) fears there is insufficient data on the effects such drugs have on child development. Further research is urgently needed, it says.
The AEP's demand is despite the fact that a European Medicines Agency (EMA) investigation into methylphenidate drugs, which include psychotropics Ritalin, Concerta, Equasym, Medikinet and Rubifen - had previously stated that the benefits of such drugs outweigh any negative effects for children diagnosed with ADHD and other conduct disorders..
Plus, UK doctors have been advised by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence not to prescribe methylphenidate as a first-line treatment for children diagnosed with ADHD.
But the AEP - which represents UK educational psychologists - fears there will be an increase of methylphenidate prescribing because the number of official psychological disorders for children is set to increase.
The American Psychiatric Association is working on its 2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSMV) in which additional psychological disorders for children are due to be added. These include Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Preschool Children, Temper Dysregulation Disorder with Dysphoria, Callous and Unemotional Specifier for Conduct Disorder, Non-Suicidal Self Injury, and Non-Suicidal Self Injury Not Otherwise Specified.
"These could lead to more young people being referred for treatment with these [psychotropic] medications," said Kate Fallon, AEP's general secretary.
She said: "There is a danger that we rely on the 'quick fix' for children with conditions such as ADHD, which frequently means the prescription of medication such as Ritalin instead of a number of other possible interventions."
Medicine regulators in European member states had in 2007 requested EMA's mediation because of concerns over cardiovascular and cerebrovascular effects of methylphenidate - such as heart rate and blood pressure increases and heart attack.
A review was carried out by the EMA's committee for medicinal products for human use. It was based on reported side effects and all studies on methylphenidate since the fifties.
The committee also investigated any link between methylphenidate and psychiatric problems, reduced growth and sexual maturation.
An urgent restriction to methylphenidate prescribing was not needed, the committee concluded.
Excerpted from this [Link]"Stimulants for ADHD Shown to Cause Sudden Death in Children" by Peter Breggin, M.D. provides critical review
A new study, published today in the American Journal of Psychiatry, confirms what I’ve been warning about for years in my scientific books and articles. The stimulants used to treat children for so-called ADHD can cause sudden cardiac arrest and death in kids. It was published by the journal online in advance of regular publication in the near future.
The stimulant group of drugs includes amphetamines like Adderall and Dexedrine and methylphenidate products such as Ritalin, Concerta, and Focalin. The study focused on Ritalin because at the time it was more commonly used than the amphetamines, although amphetamines are probably even more toxic to the heart.
The results of the study were as dramatic as they are tragic. Children and youth age 7 to 19 taking prescribed Ritalin for ADHD were four to five times more likely to die of sudden unexplained cardiac arrest than other children who were not taking Ritalin.
Despite these ominous results, the study was skewed to hide just how many children die of sudden death when taking Ritalin. The study relied heavily on identifying cases through toxicology reports at autopsy. But autopsy studies for the detection of these controlled substances are geared to detect more massive doses from addiction and overdose. They are not sensitive enough to detect many cases of routine prescription use. As a result, many stimulant-caused deaths were probably missed.
Also, the study excluded a large number of sudden deaths if the children had even the slightest evidence of pre-existing heart disease. They excluded these children even when the coroner thought that heart disease played no role in the death. For example, if a child was taking stimulants and had minimal heart disease, such as a slightly enlarged heart, the researchers didn’t include the case as a possible death due to the stimulant. They also did not count children who were severely obese, anorexic, or asthmatic. But all of these children, especially ones with undetected heart disease, are much more highly at risk for of stimulant-induced sudden death. They even excluded children whose parents had some forms of heart disease.
It’s as if they did not want to confirm the obvious—that an examination of children with heart disease and related disorders would swell the numbers of those killed by Ritalin. In fact, the current FDA approved label specifically mentions the risk of cardiac sudden death when Ritalin is given to children with heart conditions.
Unconscionable, the study was trying NOT to prove that stimulants cause sudden death in children. It made the findings despite their own attempts to avoid it. I was not surprised to find that some of the researchers for this study are among the biggest advocates of psychiatric medications for children.
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See Dr. Breggin's biography at this [Link].