Federal Officials Investigate Antipsychotic Drug Use in Children on Medicaid
The Wall Street Journal reports on the use of antipsychotic drugs in children enrolled in Medicaid. They reports that the probe was sparked by concerns the drugs are being prescribed too often to treat behavior problems in very young children.
The Inspector General’s Office in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has started the review, the article notes. It works on the five largest Medicaid states: Florida, Texas, Illinois, California and New York. The investigation covered six months in 2011. In these states when 17 years old and younger 84,654 children received prescriptions for antipsychotics paid for by Medicaid.
Agencies within HHS are requiring states to more closely oversee Medicaid prescriptions for children for drugs such as Abilify, which is known as an “atypical” antipsychotic. These drugs were developed to treat mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.
According to the firm Mathematica Policy Research, which analyses Medicaid data for HHS, the number of people under age 20 receiving Medicaid-funded prescriptions for antipsychotic drugs tripled between 1999 and 2008.
“Doctors should consider treatments other than antipsychotics, including therapy to help children and families deal with psychological trauma that could be causing behavior issues” says Dr. Stephen Cha, a Chief Medical Officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
