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<\/div>\n\nU.S. Probes Use of Antipsychotic Drugs on Children<\/a> <\/div>\nFederal health officials are reviewing antipsychotic drug use on children in the Medicaid system<\/font><\/strong><\/div>\nWall Street Journal <\/font><\/strong><\/div>\nBy LUCETTE LAGNADO<\/div>\nAugust 11, 2013 <\/div>\nFederal health officials have launched a probe into the use of antipsychotic drugs on children in the Medicaid system, amid concern that the medications are being prescribed too often to treat behavioral problems in the very young. The inspector general’s office at Department of Health and Human Services says it recently began a review of antipsychotic-drug use by Medicaid recipients age 17 and under. And various agencies within HHS are requiring officials in all 50 states to tighten oversight of prescriptions for such drugs to Medicaid-eligible young people.<\/p>\n
The effort applies to a newer class of antipsychotic drugs known as "atypicals," which include Abilify, the nation’s No. 1 prescription drug by sales. The drugs were originally developed to treat psychoses such as schizophrenia, but some now have Food and Drug Administration approval for treatment of children with conditions such as bipolar disorder and irritability associated with autism.<\/p>\n
In 2008, the most recent year for which complete data are available, Medicaid, the government health program for the poor, spent $3.6 billion on antipsychotic medications, up from $1.65 billion in 1999, according to Mathematica Policy Research, a Washington firm that crunches Medicaid data for HHS. The growth came even as pharmacy benefits for millions of Medicaid recipients shifted to Medicare in 2006.<\/p>\n
Medicaid spends more on antipsychotics than on any other class of drugs. Abilify, made by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., appears on lists of the top 10 drugs paid for by Medicaid in various states. Mark Duggan, a professor and health-policy expert at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, says his analysis of 2010 data on five leading antipsychotics suggests that more than 70% of the cost of these drugs was paid for by Medicaid and other government programs.<\/p>\n
The number of people under age 20 receiving Medicaid-funded prescriptions for antipsychotic drugs tripled between 1999 and 2008, according to an analysis by Mathematica. Dr. Stephen Cha, a chief medical officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the HHS agency that foots some of the bill for drugs prescribed to Medicaid recipients, says the government wants to reduce what he termed "the unnecessarily high utilization of antipsychotics." He urges doctors to consider other approaches, including therapy to help children and families cope with psychological trauma that could be at the root of behavior issues…<\/p>\n