Spending Up for Behavior-Related Drugs for Children

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2004-5-25

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

More and more children take medicines to treat depression and
other problems such as aggressiveness and lack of self-control. In
fact, a new study says Americans spent more on behavior-related
drugs for children last year than on antibiotics or asthma
medicines. The research shows that spending increased seventy-seven
percent between two-thousand and two-thousand-three.

One reason was increased use. The report says the number of
children on behavioral drugs increased more than twenty percent. But
these medicines also cost more than traditional drugs for problems
like infections. And patients usually stay on behavioral medicines
longer.

The report is by a company that administers drug plans for health
care providers around the country. Medco Health Solutions studied
the records of three-hundred-thousand young people up to age
nineteen. It found that among children who take at least one
medicine from their doctor, nearly nine percent are on a
behavior-related drug. Medco says five percent of all children in
the United States take behavioral medicine.

Some of the largest increases involve medicines to treat
attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. The study says spending
for such drugs last year increased three-hundred-sixty-nine percent
for children under age five. Companies have been developing new
treatments for children who have difficulty learning and staying
calm.

Also, Medco says spending for anti-depressants for children grew
twenty-five percent between two-thousand and last year. Use of these
drugs increased by twenty-seven percent.

Some parents say anti-depressants and other behavioral drugs have
improved their children's lives. But others worry that too many
young people are being given such medicines and that some drugs
could be harmful.

In March, the United States Food and Drug Administration asked
makers of anti-depressants to include a warning statement. The
agency says health care providers should carefully observe adults
and children who take these drugs.

Scientists are investigating the possibility that some patients
might become more depressed and try to kill themselves. This might
be especially true at the beginning of treatment or when the amount
of medicine is increased or decreased.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Jerilyn
Watson.


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