Abuse of the Stimulant
Adderall is Prevalent Among Students, Who Use it as a Study Aid - Ron
Woodall began taking Adderall when he was 11 years old. He had already been
diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and had the usual signs:
His attention was everywhere and his grades were lousy. When he got to college,
he found out there was a lot of interest in his pills. Friends began asking for
them.
Small Study Ties Ritalin to Higher Cancer Risk -
In a small but potentially alarming new study, local scientists have
linked the most popular drug used to treat attention-deficit problems with
increased risks of cancer.
FDA Orders Strong
Antidepressant Warnings - All antidepressants must carry a
"black box" warning, the government's strongest safety alert, linking
the drugs to increased suicidal thoughts and behavior among children
and teens taking them, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
Drug Maker Acknowledges Misleading Claims -
The maker of a popular medicine for schizophrenia has
notified doctors that it minimized potentially fatal safety risks and
made misleading claims about the drug in promotional materials.
Tragic Teen Suicides Inspire Idea That Invites More
- In heart-wrenching testimony before federal drug
regulators last February, parent after parent related how their teens
had committed suicide after taking prescription antidepressants.
Process Makes Swallowing Bitter Pills a Bit Easier -
Victoria Dunbar used to have her hands full making sure
that her two children, both diagnosed with autism, took all of the
medicines their doctors prescribed for them. Then she discovered that
some local pharmacies can make those medicines with flavors and
textures that her children are happy to take.
UK
Exam Fears Driving Teenagers to Prozac - Education: The number
of teenagers relying on drugs such as Prozac to see them through GCSEs
and A-levels has soared, with prescriptions reaching 140,000.
High-tech Tools Focus
on ADHD - The 9-year-old girl stares
at a bird on a computer screen and focuses hard to make it fly. As her
attention locks onto the bird, it wings its way across the screen,
going higher and higher. When the bird slows or drops a few inches,
the psychologist at her side makes her aware that she is tapping her
hand and fidgeting. When she stops moving, she regains her focus on
the bird and it soars once again.
Maker to Pull
Antidepressant Off Market - The maker of Serzone will pull the
controversial antidepressant off the U.S. market next month, blaming a
decline in sales rather than concern about a risk of liver failure.
The end to U.S. sales comes after Serzone was pulled off the market in
many other countries, and as maker Bristol-Myers Squibb was under
mounting pressure from lawsuits. Serzone has been linked to dozens of
cases of liver failure and injury, including at least 20 deaths.
Bigger
Than Depression? - Once associated
mainly with hyper kids, attention deficit disorder is now widely
diagnosed in adults. But drugs aren't the only answer. A teacher for
more than three decades, Terri Mangravite, 56, has seen her share of
attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in students. She has
also seen it at home. Her husband and two adopted children were
diagnosed with it. So when her primary-care physician told her she had
it as well, she could hardly believe it. "I laughed when he told me,"
she remembers.
Featured Website:
The Vitamins and Nutrition Center - The Vitamins
and Nutrition Center provides factual information on vitamins
and nutrition, reports on the latest vitamin research and
explains just how vitamins prevent disease.
U.S.
FDA Issues
Warning on Antidepressants - Possible Suicide, Severe
Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks in Children and Adults; The FDA is
issuing a warning about the possibility of worsening depression or
suicidal thoughts in people, particularly children, who take any of 10
popular antidepressants, especially at the beginning of treatment or
when the doses are increased or decreased.
New Doubts About
Medicating Kids - Personal tragedies
and scientific evidence are combining to call into question the use of
powerful antidepressant drugs on children and teens. Pressure has been
building for months to ban or curtail their use. Recent scientific
studies have found a link between the use of these drugs and suicidal
tendencies among children. In December, Britain banned the use of some
antidepressants on patients under 18. The fallout from a hearing
called by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week is
ratcheting up the pressure for some kind of action on this side of the
Atlantic.
U.S.
Parents: Kids Face
Antidepressants Risk - Parents
pleaded with the Food and Drug Administration on Monday to end the use
of popular adult antidepressants in children, saying the drugs can
increase youths' risk of suicide and violence. "To die in this
violent, unusual fashion without making a sound ... Paxil must have
put her over the edge," said Sara Bostock, describing how her daughter
Cecily stabbed herself in the chest with a kitchen knife shortly after
graduating from Stanford University and two weeks after starting the
drug.
UK
Risk of New
Anti-depressants Outweighs Benefit -
British drug regulators Wednesday recommended against the use of
all but one of a new generation of anti-depressants in the treatment
of depressed children under 18.
U.S.
Bill Seeks
Right Dose For Kids -
The government could require drug companies to test
medicines to assure that dosages are appropriate for children under
legislation given final congressional approval Wednesday.
Debate Resumes on the
Safety of Depression's Wonder Drugs - Warnings by drug
regulators about the safety of Paxil, one of the world's most
prescribed antidepressants, are reopening seemingly settled questions
about a whole class of drugs that also includes Prozac and Zoloft.
UK
50,000
Children Taking Antidepressants - An
antidepressant which GPs [General Practitioners] have been prescribing
to thousands of children, in spite of the fact that it is not
recommended for their use, can cause youngsters to want to kill
themselves, the government's regulatory agency warned yesterday.
UK
Paxil Banned in UK
for under-18s - Mood drug Seroxat
banned for under-18s (Seroxat is the non-U.S. name for Paxil)
Needy Meds
This website
provides an alphabetical listing of all drugs (both name brand and
generic) currently on the market.
Website:
http://www.needymeds.com
Clinical Trials
The U.S.
National Institutes of Health, through its
National Library of Medicine,
has developed ClinicalTrials.gov to provide patients, family
members and members of the public current information about clinical
research studies. Before searching, you may want to learn more about
clinical trials and more about
this Web site. Check often for regular updates to
ClinicalTrials.gov
website:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/
Free
Medication Available -
Patient
Assistance Program Applications -
The companies set their own criteria for qualifying. Some require
only that you state your income, while others may require copies of income tax,
Social Security, W-2, check stubs, etc. to prove income.
Follow the link and click where applicable for more information.
Medication:
Pediatric Drug Testing
Struck Down by Court
