Prescription Drug Use Soaring Among U.S. Children

Prescription drug use among youngsters in the United States is growing at nearly four times the rate as among the overall population. A new report shows that nearly a quarter of insured children and almost one third of adolescents ages 10 to 19 took at least one prescription medicine to treat a chronic condition last year.

The annual drug trend report by big pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions Inc, issued May 19, revealed that prescriptions marketed to children and teens are the biggest growth factor for the pharmaceutical industry. Money spent on prescription drugs for children rose 10.8 percent last year—more than triple the increase among senior citizens.

“Looking at children was the real shocker for us,” Dr. Robert Epstein, Medco’s chief medical officer, said on a conference call from Medco’s drug trend symposium in Orlando, Florida.

The drastic rise in medication use by children is largely due to young people increasingly suffering from adult illnesses.

“What’s surprising is the type of drugs these kids are taking. All these adult drugs are popping up in children, which is really disturbing,” Epstein said. “Children are looking like little versions of adults when it comes to chronic illness.”

One trend fueling the increase in medication use is children being prescribed powerful antipsychotic drugs traditionally given to people diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now, they are commonly prescribed for conditions such as depression or anxiety.

“Atypical antipsychotics are extremely powerful drugs that are being used far too commonly especially in children given their safety issues and side effects,” said Dr. David Muzina, a specialist in mood disorders and national practice leader of the Medco Therapeutic Resource Center for Neuroscience.

Dr. Muzina went on to point out the counterproductive nature of such drugs: “We’re seeing them prescribed for a number of different conditions including depression and anxiety for which there is not good evidence that they are an effective treatment and yet we’re exposing children to the possibility of extreme weight gain that could lead to a host of health problems including diabetes.”

An analysis by Medco showed that the use of antipsychotic drugs has more than doubled in the past nine years.

Drugs used to treat obesity and diabetes are also contributing to the increased drug use among children. Epstein reported a 50 percent increase since 2001 in the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs among those ages 10 to 19, a 24 percent increase in use of blood pressure medicines, and a 147 percent jump in adolescents taking heart burn and acid reflux drugs. Drugs used to treat type-2 diabetes, once referred to as adult-onset diabetes, has risen more than 150 percent among children since 2001.

Sadly, our children, the segment of the population that should be healthiest—not to mention establishing the right habits for a healthy adulthood—are becoming more reliant on drugs than anyone else.

Children are being given the so-called quick fix of pills to alleviate their ills rather than helped to make lifestyle, diet and behavioral changes. This gross negligence has become accepted in a society that focuses on treating the symptom rather than addressing the cause.

For more on the failure of the medical industry, read “Does Medicine Deserve Your Faith?”