Last month in the Wall
Street Journal , Koplewicz wrote that
"no studies have examined the effect of long-term use" of ADHD meds,
but they "have been in use for 70 years, and there is no evidence that
suggests any adverse effects." But there has been a large federal study of the long-term effects
of the drugs and it shows they are "ineffective over longer periods,"
and "that long-term use of the drugs can stunt children's growth,"
reported the Washington
Post. Oops.
Two features that characterize the pediatric medicine practiced by the pill enthusiasts are they term the "diseases" they identify under-treated and under-diagnosed and they urge early treatment when symptoms first appear. (Before the symptoms go away say cynics.)
Yet the very fact that such diseases are lifelong conditions is reason to wait to medicate kids say highly respected doctors. Nor can parents with medicated children know if their kids even needed the drugs since symptoms from the drugs are often called the "disease," says Peter Breggin, M.D. recent interview.
One thing doctors on both sides of the pediatric drug controversy agree on is the decision to put a child on drugs will likely sentence him or her to a lifetime of medications. What they disagree about is whether that is good or bad thing. END
An earlier version of this article appear on Alternet.org
Evelyn Pringle is an investigative journalist and a columnist for Independent Media TV.
Martha Rosenberg is an investigative health reporter and the
author of Born With a Junk Food Deficiency: How Flaks, Quacks and Hacks Pimp
The Public Health (Prometheus Books).
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