ADHD Medication: New ‘Black Box’ Warning May Impact ADHD Prescription | |||||||
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ADHD - ADHD 2006 |
Written by Frank Mangano |
Thursday, 24 August 2006 18:24 |
If you are a regular reader of my health columns, you’ll recall an article I wrote last week regarding Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and the plethora of prescriptions doctors have been dolling out to children. Despite this—or should I say as a result of this—diagnoses have steadily risen year after year, all because doctors refuse to believe the evidence that links the increase in consumption of processed foods to the increase in ADHD diagnoses. But perhaps the latest news out of the pharmaceutical world will get their attention. According to Reuters, several prescription medications used to treat ADHD now must list on the drug’s label the potential risks that go along with taking the prescription. These warnings include the risk of behavioral problems such as mania, aggression, heart problems and even sudden death! The drugs Ritalin and Dexedrine are the newest ADHD prescription medications to carry these warnings, joining Strattera and Adderall, which carry risks of suicidal thoughts and heart problems, respectively. As you probably know, I’m no fan of the FDA, but I give them credit for finally coming to a consensus that these medications ought to carry “black box” warnings after literally months of debating the issue. These “black box” warnings are the strongest warnings the FDA places on prescription medication labels. But news like this isn’t good news for doctors. According to Reuters, many doctors have expressed concern over how these kinds of warnings will play out with the masses suffering from ADHD. According to the FDA, approximately two million children receive prescriptions for ADHD each month, and now that severely hazardous warnings are in bold face on their packaging, that could spell a drop in business. What does this say about the medical profession? Instead of looking out for the folks—you and me—they’re looking out for big business pharmaceutical companies and their own business exploits. Whatever happened to the Hippocratic Oath? They just don’t get it. They don’t get the study from the University of South Australia that fish oil is more effective at treating children with ADHD than Ritalin. They don’t understand the study published in the journal European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry describing how pine bark extract reduces ADHD symptoms in children. And they don’t grasp the disturbing number released by the CDC, which say that side-effects of stimulant drugs like Ritalin result in 3,100 people being checked into the emergency room annually. Nearly 80 percent of cases involving children with ADHD are solved once the child has been taken off of processed foods in two weeks. Sure, it may be hard for children to avoid these foods that certainly are very tasty, but it will serve as a boon to you and your child’s life by freeing him or her of mind-altering drugs and body-altering foods for the rest of their life. |
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