patrick.net

This is criminally irresponsible, and I'm not sure who is more to blame: the doctors who prescribe this for toddlers who won't sit still and drool or the "can't be bothered" parents who give it to them.

Some have also been prescribing anti-psychotics to children as young as three, and some of those drugs can cause lifelong side effects (including permanent diabetes) by the teenage years. Many schoolteachers have complained that they are required to dose schoolchildren, or administer the children's dosing schedules, even when the teachers believe the drugs are injuring the children. I have posted about this on PatNet several times. I am sadly dismayed by the widespread complacency, but a tsunami of money (including mandatory subsidized insurance) is pushing these pills and few dare to stand athwart its path. If you watch commercial news on TV, then try counting the advertisements to see who is paying those pipers and calling their tune; I count an outright majority from PhRMA, and half of those are for drugs the audience isn't even allowed to buy without an Rx.

Time: "Antipsychotic Prescriptions in Children Have Skyrocketed"

NY Times: "Powerful antipsychotic medicines are being used far too cavalierly in children, and federal drug regulators must do more to warn doctors of their substantial risks, a panel of federal drug experts said Tuesday.

But Risperdal is not approved for attention deficit problems, and its risks — which include substantial weight gain, metabolic disorders and muscular tics that can be permanent — are too profound to justify its use in treating such disorders, panel members said."

The whole situation reminds me of the Milgram Obedience Experiment. We see an industry that is abusing children, but as long as the authority figures on TV approve, all most people can say is "more". I cannot claim that contrary voices are permanently suppressed; they are merely marginalized and buried amid an avalanche of sales patter.

Better Living Through Chemistry. Gotta love it!

I saw a 3 year old crushing up her adderral and snorting it. What a bad ass baby

Country's turning into a looney bin.

A new sporting event for the adventurous bettors. Toddlers in diapers and straight jackets, amped on ritalin, racing for pieces of chocolate dangled on strings. It could be called "Infant Gladiators".

It's so sweet, they haven't learned how to sell their meds on the playground, yet.

Beats dummass frog jumping, dwarf tossing and turtle races they have at bars now.

Instead of stepping in to curb the drug-pushing pediatricians, notice how the American Medical Association - AMA - is allowing pediatricians to create drug addicts younger and younger. This ensure a lifetime of pharmaceutical dependency. More money for big pharmaceutics, M.D.'s, & psychiatrists -- more money for the AMA.