March 14, 2006 at 06:38:26

ADHD Experts Head To Washington - Is the FDA Up To The Task?

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By Evelyn Pringle (about the author) Page 2 of 4 page(s)

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ADHD drugs are known to have serious adverse psychological effects on children which is one of the main reasons Dr Breggin is dead against giving stimulants to kids. "That we are doing this," he says, "I believe, is ethically and scientifically wrong."

"We're the only country in the world, along with Canada, that is doing this to such massive numbers of our children," Dr Breggin notes. "It's a reflection not on our children, but on ourselves as parents and as teachers."

Dr Breggin describes an all too common occurrence in recent years. "As the child's emotional control breaks down due to medication effects, mood stabilizers may be added," he explains. "Eventually, these children end up on four or five psychiatric drugs at once and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder by the age of eight or ten," he says.

In addition, there is now a mountain of evidence that stimulants disrupt growth hormone production on a daily basis and that they also can reduce the child's overall growth, including height and weight, according to Dr Breggin.

"All stimulants impair growth," he notes, "not only by suppressing appetite but also by disrupting growth hormone production."

"This poses a threat to every organ of the body, including the brain, during the child's growth," Dr Breggin warns. "The disruption of neurotransmitter systems adds to this threat."

"It is hard to imagine a more serious warning flag than growth inhibition," he says, "since it affects the overall growth of the body and all its organs, including the brain."

Its a well documented fact that the pharmaceutical industry funnels money to front groups, which in turn fund marketing campaigns and come out to do battle at times like this when drug company profits are threatened and scrutinized.

On February 15, 2006, Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), the leading Pharma backed front group responsible for pushing ADHD drugs issued a press release criticizing the FDA Advisory Committee's recommendation last month to add black box warnings to the labels of stimulant drugs.

In the press release, E Clarke Ross, identified as CEO of CHADD stated: "The committee's recommendation to include warning language about rare and unproven cardiac health risks on medications used to treat ADHD is premature, at best, and could unnecessarily alarm patients and clinicians."

"The committee," the press release continued, "directed by the FDA to decide how to move ahead with additional research on the medication's safety, endorsed future studies, trials and surveys for both pediatric and adult patients, and then approved the unsolicited recommendation to include warning language on patient inserts and labels."

Clarke said the committee "approved the unsolicited recommendation to include warning language on patient inserts and labels."

On March 13, 2006, the Shreveport Times published an article by Terry Davis, that seems to directly address the issue raised by CHADD, which began with the question: Do drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder need a black box warning because of reports that they may cause sudden death?

Ms Davis was a member of the FDA advisory committee that decided last month that they did. In the article she explains the reasoning behind the decision.

The panel felt the parents of the 2.5 million children taking medication such as Ritalin or Adderall -- the 1.5 million adults also on these medicines, as well as their physicians -- need to be alerted about the drugs' significant risks, she wrote.

The advisory panel was also concerned that ADHD drugs are overused, she said and noted that more than "30 million prescriptions -- valued at $3.1 billion -- are filled annually."

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