More Ritalin And Prozac Being Prescribed

From Yahoo News comes an article titled: “Ritalin And Prozac Combination Used by More Children”

The article is based on the results from a study that show evidence of an increasing number of Ritalin and Prozac prescriptions, as well as “various combinations of similar stimulants and antidepressants” among children.

According to the article, researchers had found that some children taking Ritalin or drugs that were similar to Ritalin, were also being prescribed combinations of other drugs such as stimulants and antidepressants.

In the article, a researcher was quoted as saying, “I think the safety of these medications–in the young child especially–is not known, and when you take them in combination it’s a whole new level of safety concern.”

The article reports that the findings in the study were in addition to information gathered showing an increasing trend towards more children taking these drugs. “Steep increase” were the words used to describe the growing numbers of users reported from 1990 to 1998.

According to the article, “by 1998, 10% of children aged 6 to 14 years were on Ritalin or stimulants, as were 1% of preschoolers aged 1 to 5 years.”

Why such growth in drug use? In the article, a researcher questions whether medical doctors have just gotten much better at diagnosing these conditions or if the growing trend is one of over-diagnosing children that do not necessarily need to be taking these drugs.

What do you think?

Yahoo News: Ritalin And Prozac Combination Used by More Children