Preschoolers and prozac

Prozac Zombies

Guess which age group represents one of the fastest growing markets for antidepressant drug use?

Sad but true: Preschoolers.

In last week’s e-Alert “Safety for Sale” (4/12/04), I told you about an internal FDA report that found a clear risk of increased suicidal behavior among children taking antidepressants. Now a new study reviewing the use of these drugs among children and adolescents in the U.S. confirms that doctors and parents are not just saying, “No.”

The study, conducted by researchers at a managed care prescription company, called for further studies to evaluate the effects of antidepressants on pediatric patients. That sounds reasonable enough, except for the fact that there’s a huge ethical issue. How do you recruit very young children who have no input into the decision to participate? The fact that a growing number of parents apparently feel comfortable using powerful drugs on their preschoolers doesn’t make the ethical dilemma any easier.

So antidepressant use among this group will go largely unstudied, while more and more kids in this group are medicated every day.

In 15 years, what cute nickname will they give this generation when it comes of age? Maybe “Generation PZ” for “Prozac Zombies”?

Sources:
“Trends in the Use of Antidepressants in a National Sample of Commercially Insured Pediatric Patients, 1998 to 2002” Psychiatric Services, Vol. 55, April 2004, ps.psychiatryonline.org
“Study: Preschoolers’ Antidepressant Use Growing Quickly” WBAL TV, 4/8/04, thewbalchannel.com