Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 12:20 pm Post subject: NHS SPENDS MILLIONS ON DRUG THAT TURNS CHILDREN INTO DRONES
Quote:
THE NHS is spending more than £1million a month on mind-altering drugs designed to help to calm hyperactive children.
Doctors now write almost 7,500 prescriptions a week for Ritalin tablets, known as “chill pills”.
They cost about £200 a year per child and are likely to cost taxpayers a total of £12.48million this year, figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed.
The revelation comes as new figures show that Ritalin or similar drugs are being linked to at least 11 deaths in Britain.
Last night the UK licensing authority, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), admitted that the deaths were likely to be an underestimate of the true figure because most doctors do not inform them of suspected cases.
Dr Sami Timimi, an expert in child behaviour, said taxpayers’ money is being wasted on Ritalin, which he warned may cause serious long-term damage.
“This is shocking and not a wise way to spend money,” he said. “By using Ritalin, doctors avoid addressing the real issues that are causing a child’s behavioural problems. It is like putting a sticking plaster on a huge wound.
“We could be storing up big problems for this generation of youngsters.”
New figures obtained by this paper also show that doctors have linked other serious side-effects with drugs such as Ritalin. These include 73 blood disorder reactions, 39 heart disorders and 80 stomach disorders.
Ritalin or similar pills are given to children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, a condition that affects mainly boys and includes problems focusing, controlling their actions and remaining still or quiet. Doctors wrote 97,224 prescriptions for the controversial drugs in the last three months of last year, at a total cost of £3.12million.
There is no medical test for ADHD. Diagnosis is based on monitoring problem behaviour which is severely and persistently inattentive and disorganised, not just naughty or defiant.
Andrea Bilbow, from hyperactivity support group ADDISS, said: “Untreated ADHD can lead to psychiatric problems in later life, at enormous cost to the health service. We also know that many of the more severe cases end up in the justice system, again at enormous cost to the state.”
Many are sceptical about the success of ADHD drugs and question whether the condition actually exists.
Blair Gibbs, spokesman for the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “If parents were allowed to discipline their children, ordinary taxpayers wouldn’t have to fork out so much for expensive drugs that turn kids into drones.”
Professor Steve Baldwin, who died in the 2001 Selby rail crash, had concluded from his research that Ritalin was being used as a “quick fix” for children being used as “guinea-pigs”.
He believed ADHD as a biological brain disorder did not exist and that symptoms were caused by a number of social and psychological problems that could not be treated with pills.
He considered the massive rise in Ritalin prescriptions a “public health scandal”.
Next Tuesday in Edinburgh there will be a demonstration against the increasing use of psychiatric drugs for children.
Campaigners who will be marching include the Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights.
this will create just the type of people government want ... if i had kids i wouldn't want them drugged up on stuff like this
i'm always surprised at the amount of pills a lot of mates take for various things - i don't even like aspirin! it seems for anything you have or think you might have nowadays, theres some pill to fix it, or cover it up. i think a lot of its just crap being hyped up by the pharmaceutical companys so they can make more money, there promoted to doctors to help them prescribe them with often biased data and promoted with stupid adverts on tele - we're gonna create a generation of pill dependent robots
The mother of a friend of mine works with children with special needs and told me about the benefits of these drugs when given correctly being amazing. The child is finally able to concentrate on one subject at a time, which for someone who has never been able to do so must be a brilliant feeling. I think they're amphetamine based which is quite surprising when you consider the effect of such a drug on those without this condition.
The problem is of course that too many children are being prescribed in the same way as too many adults are given drugs like Prozac.
The mother of a friend of mine works with children with special needs and told me about the benefits of these drugs when given correctly being amazing. The child is finally able to concentrate on one subject at a time, which for someone who has never been able to do so must be a brilliant feeling. I think they're amphetamine based which is quite surprising when you consider the effect of such a drug on those without this condition.
The problem is of course that too many children are being prescribed in the same way as too many adults are given drugs like Prozac.
I think you've hit the nail on the head with that one, Faceless. The key being "when they're given correctly". Ritalin isn't for everyone, but I'd hesitate to say that it turns everyone into zombies--- I think a blanket statement like that is inaccurate. As a pediatric's nurse, I can attest to the benefits of the medication. But I will agree that it's perhaps prescribed too much. There are many alternatives to try when trying to treat children with a hyperactivity disorder, but quite often, medication is beneficial. What it comes down to is that each child needs an individualized plan, designed for them, and the medication should always be used with some other form of treatment (psychotherapy, behaviour therapy, medical monitoring, etc.).
In respect to it being an "amphetamine" like drug.... Ritalin usually has more of an "upper" effect on adults rather than the calming effect we see in children. It's not often used after puberty for that reason.
The mother of a friend of mine works with children with special needs and told me about the benefits of these drugs when given correctly being amazing. The child is finally able to concentrate on one subject at a time, which for someone who has never been able to do so must be a brilliant feeling. I think they're amphetamine based which is quite surprising when you consider the effect of such a drug on those without this condition.
The problem is of course that too many children are being prescribed in the same way as too many adults are given drugs like Prozac.
I think you've hit the nail on the head with that one, Faceless. The key being "when they're given correctly". Ritalin isn't for everyone, but I'd hesitate to say that it turns everyone into zombies--- I think a blanket statement like that is inaccurate. As a pediatric's nurse, I can attest to the benefits of the medication. But I will agree that it's perhaps prescribed too much. There are many alternatives to try when trying to treat children with a hyperactivity disorder, but quite often, medication is beneficial. What it comes down to is that each child needs an individualized plan, designed for them, and the medication should always be used with some other form of treatment (psychotherapy, behaviour therapy, medical monitoring, etc.).
In respect to it being an "amphetamine" like drug.... Ritalin usually has more of an "upper" effect on adults rather than the calming effect we see in children. It's not often used after puberty for that reason.
Exactly. Being in counseling and seeing many children I am amazed at the amount of kids they just give this medication to because they misbehave. ADHD/ADD is over diagnosed. It's a catch all diagnosis. However, I can tell you that trend is changing. In the 80s the big diagnosis was dyslexia, then 90s and now has been ADHD/ADD and now you will see the trend moving to autism.
It's not that there was ever a rise in ADHD/ADD it's a rise in diagnosis. The way it is diagnosed is ridiculous. An observation and a computer test are given. Studies have shown that a PEP scan can show the difference between a ADHD/ADD brain yet that isn't used to diagnose. All I know is that I would fail the computer test that is given as it's completely boring.
As for autism, I am seriously concerned in the trend I am seeing. There are more kids that are being diagnosed as such and it's clear to me they are NOT. However, many professionals want to go with the quick diagnosis.
My father fought a lot of over diagnosis of ADHD/ADD when he was working. Almost 90% of the cases brought to him the kids had been diagnosed as such. Out of that, he found about 5% actually had the disorder. So all those kids that had been on any meds for ADHD/ADD were being improperly medicated and treated. I know he would be shocked by the current trend with autism as well.
I work for a Pharmaceutical company. I work in the accounting department, which isn't the ins and outs of the company, but I see all the financials coming through. On the Pharmaceutical side of thing, it is strictly monitored by the FDA. We cannot have anyone outside the company come in without being identified by badge and accompanied by an employee. The FDA is here all the time inspecting our facilities, inspecting our files to see that things are being recorded correctly. Also, any drugs we create must go through stringent clinical trials which are very costly, and if the results are not going as planned, it gets scrapped, and no recoup on the money spent on the trials. Once a trial is successful, then it's scrutinized by the FDA, and can only go to market if the FDA approves it. If the FDA is not satisfied with one thing or another, they either must correct it, or again, it's scrapped. I can understand the pharmaceutical's point of view of charging a lot of money on a patented orphan drug, because they must recoup their money they spent on clinical trials and marketing, and they do need to make a profit as they are a business. The drug eventually can be copied after so many years, which is what you call a "generic drug", which then will take a bite out of the profits. They must make the profit before it goes generic. So, if you want cheap drugs, have your government fund clinical trials and patent the drug so there is no profit motive. What can I say? I don't think the pharmaceutical companies are as bad as people make out to be. Are they perfect? No. Do shenanigans occur? Sure, but usually it's an individual here and there, not a group as a whole.
i've just been looking around for info on the fda and pharmaceutical companys, i didn't know much about them except their involvement in genetically modified food and monsanto from a excellent documentary called 'the future of food ( well worth watching! ), thought some might be interested in this ;
Quote:
How Drug Companies Deceive Doctors
By Shane Ellison, M.Sc.
Following doctor's orders has become synonymous with danger. Every year, FDA approved drugs kill twice as many people as the total number of U.S. deaths from the Vietnam War.[1] Death by medicine flourishes because deceit, not science, governs a doctor's prescribing habits. As an ex-drug chemist, I witnessed this first-hand.
This deceit comes in many forms. Medical ghostwriting and checkbook science are the most prominent.
Doctors rely on peer-reviewed medical journals to learn about prescription drugs. These journals include the Lancet, British Medical Journal, New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association. It is assumed that these professional journals offer the hard science behind any given drug. This assumption is wrong. Medical journals can't be trusted thanks to medical ghost writing.
Medical ghostwriting is the practice of hiring PhD's to crank out drug reports that hype benefits and hide negative side effects. Once complete, drug companies recruit doctor's to put their name on the report as authors. These reports are then published in the above mentioned medical journals.[2] The carrot for this deceitful practice is money and prestige. Ghostwriters can receive up to $20,000 per report. Doctors receive prestige from having been published. Ultimately, patients get bad drugs disguised as good medicine.
As deplorable as medical ghostwriting sounds, it is more common than you think. Dr. David Healy, of the University of Whales, predicts that 50% of journal drug reviews are written by ghostwriters.[3]
Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, editor for the New England Journal of Medicine, insists that he cannot find drug review authors who do not have financial ties to drug companies. As a result, the journal had to relax their conflict-of-interest rules in 2000.[4]
The editor of the British Journal of Medicine has acknowledged that medical ghostwriting has become a serious problem for his publication: "We are being hoodwinked by the drug companies. The articles come in with doctors' names on them and we often find some of them have little or no idea about what they have written."[5]
Consider the testimony from deputy editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association: "This [journal articles] is all about bypassing science. Medicine is becoming a sort of Cloud Cuckoo Land, where doctors don't know what papers they can trust in the journals, and the public doesn't want to believe."[6]
Other weapons of mass deception exist - checkbook science. As defined by Diana Zuckerman, PhD, checkbook science is research intended not to expand knowledge or to benefit humanity, but instead to sell drugs. It has stolen the very soul of University research, scientific method, and the patients who serve as human subjects.[7]
Drug companies use checkbook science to sponsor their own drug research via the halls of academia and government institutions. Money is used to design their own studies, interpret the results, and stuff negative data under the drug-rug. The drug-rug is a behemoth rug. It has to be. A myriad of negative drug data exists.
Like medical ghostwriting, checkbook science is more common than you think. A third of academic professors have personal financial ties to drug makers.[8] Called the "Stealth Merger" by the LA Times, top scientists at the National Institutes of Health also collect paychecks and stock options from the drug industry.[9] This has been going on for over 20 years.[10] Known as the Bayh-Dole Act, U.S law was amended in 1980 to allow for these flagrant conflicts of interest.[4]
This calculated deceit is scandalous. Hopefully the line at the pharmaceutical trough gets shorter as this scandal becomes public. Though, drug makers have an insurance policy for this - Direct-to-Consumer advertising. The oft repeated "ask your doctor" ensures that the herd instinctively embraces drugs, drugs and more drugs.
Understanding medical ghost writing and checkbook science explains why medical doctors have been hypnotized into drug worship - they only see the positive. It also explains why modern medicine is more deadly and lucrative than war - the danger has been silenced with the pen and money.
Drug companies do not take responsibility for the wonton prescription drug deceit. Instead, victims have been made invisible - dehumanized. They are not recognized as children, or men with significant contribution to society. Their deaths are simply shrugged off and attributed to sickness or aging.
Those who profit from prescription drugs should hold some sort of record for the having the most reckless disregard for human life. If the deceit continues the prescription drug leviathan will silently kill more people than Napalm dropped on Vietnamese villages.
About the Author
Shane holds a Master's degree in organic chemistry and has first hand experience in drug design. Specializing in therapeutic nutrition, he has made it his mission to introduce healthy lifestyle and nutrition habits to the general public. He is author of Health Myths Exposed and Hidden Truth about Cholesterol Lowering Drugs. His books and free offers can be found at www.healthmyths.net.
[1] Approximately 58,000 American's died in Vietnam. FDA approved drugs kill 106 - 125,000 people per year when used as prescribed.
[3] Antony Barnett. Revealed: how drug firms 'hoodwink' medical journals. Pharmaceutical giants hire ghostwriters to produce articles - then put doctors' names on them. The Observer. Sunday December 7, 2003
[4] Tufts eNews. Relaxing The Rules. Does the New England Journal of Medicine's decision to relax its conflict of interest policy strengthen or weaken the prestigious publication? Boston [06.19.02]
[6] Shannon Brownlee. Doctors Without Borders. Why you can't trust medical journals anymore. Washington Monthly. April 2003.
[7] Zuckerman, D. Hype in health reporting: "checkbook science" buys distortion of medical news. International Journal of Health Services. 2003;33(2).
[8] Bekelman, J.E., Li, Y. and Gross, C. P. Scope and impact of financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research. Journal of the American Medical Association. 289: 454-465.
[9] Willman D. Stealth merger: drug companies and government medical research. Los Angeles Times. 2003 Dec 7;:A1, A32-3.
I agree that ADD & ADHD may be over diagnosed and not all kids need meds. I also know that some kids do so much better on medication.
As far as the amphetamine aspect of the drugs ... I know a few parents of kids with ADD / ADHD issues and to calm them down at night for bed they actually give them super caffeinated drinks. For some reason it has the opposite effect on them.
Interestingly ... there is a case locally here of a child who was diagnosed with all sorts of similar issues but meds weren't working. He was admitted to numerous psych intitutions and threatened to kill his grandmother (and caretaker) and had killed family pets. His case made the local papers and gained the attention of an expert who correctly diagnosed him with TOURETTE'S SYNDROME! The boy is receiving treatment and the correct meds and is a completely different child. The expert stated in a news report on the story that alot of children with tourette's are misdiagnosed.
I agree that ADD & ADHD may be over diagnosed and not all kids need meds. I also know that some kids do so much better on medication.
As far as the amphetamine aspect of the drugs ... I know a few parents of kids with ADD / ADHD issues and to calm them down at night for bed they actually give them super caffeinated drinks. For some reason it has the opposite effect on them.
Interestingly ... there is a case locally here of a child who was diagnosed with all sorts of similar issues but meds weren't working. He was admitted to numerous psych intitutions and threatened to kill his grandmother (and caretaker) and had killed family pets. His case made the local papers and gained the attention of an expert who correctly diagnosed him with TOURETTE'S SYNDROME! The boy is receiving treatment and the correct meds and is a completely different child. The expert stated in a news report on the story that alot of children with tourette's are misdiagnosed.
That's very true, marcella....... I think a fair bit of Tourette's actually goes undiagnosed..... there are different degrees of Tourettes and most are treatable. You have all likely met someone with Tourettes and have never known it.
@Sky..... I agree with you on the autism trend as well. I've noticed a lot more of it lately. Personally I do see it as having some sort of genetic component since I've a friend who has three kids, all with some form of autism.
I have a son who is diagnosed ADHD - he gets a slow release ritalin variant that last him all day and is a different (normal) child when he is on it. Still naughty and defiant at times but in a normal way.
When he is not on it he can't concentrate in school, is generally disruptive and is not aware he is doing anything wrong. Above all because he is not concious of these things he can be a danger to himself in many situations.
His own self esteem and ability to make friends and participate in group activities has gone up exponentially, largely because no-one shuns him or constantly tells him he is naughty or disruptive.
Kudos to my missus who spent the better part of a year and a half getting him *correctly* diagnosed. As mentioned above, too often this is given just to calm down disruptive children when the root cause is something else , which is why Ritalin often gets called a "teachers drug".
I agree that ADD & ADHD may be over diagnosed and not all kids need meds. I also know that some kids do so much better on medication.
As far as the amphetamine aspect of the drugs ... I know a few parents of kids with ADD / ADHD issues and to calm them down at night for bed they actually give them super caffeinated drinks. For some reason it has the opposite effect on them.
Interestingly ... there is a case locally here of a child who was diagnosed with all sorts of similar issues but meds weren't working. He was admitted to numerous psych intitutions and threatened to kill his grandmother (and caretaker) and had killed family pets. His case made the local papers and gained the attention of an expert who correctly diagnosed him with TOURETTE'S SYNDROME! The boy is receiving treatment and the correct meds and is a completely different child. The expert stated in a news report on the story that alot of children with tourette's are misdiagnosed.
That's very true, marcella....... I think a fair bit of Tourette's actually goes undiagnosed..... there are different degrees of Tourettes and most are treatable. You have all likely met someone with Tourettes and have never known it.
@Sky..... I agree with you on the autism trend as well. I've noticed a lot more of it lately. Personally I do see it as having some sort of genetic component since I've a friend who has three kids, all with some form of autism.
This is always so scary. We had a student in our schools as well who they were saying had ADD but no treatments were working. Mom finally took him to a brain specialist got some scans and he has tumors all throughout his brain. So for three years he wasn't getting the right treatment and being medicated when he didn't need to be. All because people want to go with the quick diagnosis.
I also agree that there is a genetic component with autism. I know there are so many studies going into it right now.
Diagnosis for children's problems is a very touchy subject with me. It is so hard to get an accurate picture of the issue when children can't communicate the "right " words.
I have a friend who has a 5 year old who has been variously diagnosed with issues since he was 3. Speech issues caused by ear problems; pulled muscles to toe walking; immaturity to sensory integration disorder. He has been through various therapies (speech, occupational, physical) and nothing has worked. Now they are talking about neurological damage from birth and the possibility of cerebral palsy. Thankfully none of it has involved medications but it makes you wonder what's next.
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