Poorer Children More Likely To Get Antipsychotics

krou writes "A new study by a team from Rutgers and Columbia has discovered that poorer children are more likely to be given powerful antipsychotic drugs. According to the NY Times (login required), 'children covered by Medicaid are given powerful antipsychotic medicines at a rate four times higher than children whose parents have private insurance. And the Medicaid children are more likely to receive the drugs for less severe conditions than their middle-class counterparts.' It raises the question: 'Do too many children from poor families receive powerful psychiatric drugs not because they actually need them — but because it is deemed the most efficient and cost-effective way to control problems that may be handled much differently for middle-class children?' Two possible explanations are offered: 'insurance reimbursements, as Medicaid often pays much less for counseling and therapy than private insurers do,' and because of 'the challenges that families in poverty may have in consistently attending counseling or therapy sessions, even when such help is available.' The study is due to be published next year in the journal Health Affairs." The full article is available behind a paywall from the first link. The lead author of the study said he "did not have clear evidence to form an opinion on whether or not children on Medicaid were being overtreated."

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And Rich Kids Get Speed

[DynaSoar]

A study done around 10+ years ago by Eastern Virginia Medical School looked at diagnosis and misdiagnosis of ADD in communities near them (Norfolk VA). They found the richer the community the more kids were diagnosed with ADD. they also found that while there is underdiagnosis equal to about 10% of the current number of those so diagnosed, there is about 20% overdiagnosed.

The most disturbing fact they uncovered, one that helps make sense of the overdiagnosis part, comes from looking at grade level and age. They classified kids as to grade, and then age within that grade. One group, kids who were more than 1 years younger than average for that grade (ie. had been bumped foward, skipping one or more grades at some time) were particularly troublesome. Kids more than a year young form their grade were prescribed meds for a diagnosis of ADD 67% of the time. These are the smart kids. No way they could that many have ADD and be set forward one opr more grades.

The only possible explanation for this is their parents were dosing them with speed in order to improve their scores, grades, abilities, etc. And doctors and schools were going along with it.