Hard to Swallow
1 in 13
children in America take at least one psychiatric drug for “emotional or behavioral problems.”
1 in 13
children in America take at least one psychiatric drug for “emotional or behavioral problems.”
44 warnings
There have been 44 warnings from eight countries that ADHD drugs cause harmful side effects, including: heart problems, mania/psychosis, death, depression, violence, suicide risk/attempts and addiction.
Twenty-five studies from five countries have reported on harmful side effects of ADHD drugs.
Studies in 2009 and 2014 found use of ADHD drugs by children were linked to sudden deaths or adverse cardiac effects.
$18.2 billion
Annual sales of antipsychotics topped $18 billion in 2011, compared to $2.8 billion in 2003, an increase of over six times.
Source: “Are too many kids taking antipsychotic drugs?”
Consumer Reports, December 2013
40%
of children in longer term foster care who were over the age of six were using psychotropic medicines in 2010.
No valid test
According to the final statement from the National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference on ADHD, “we do not have an independent, valid test for ADHD, and there are no data to indicate ADHD is due to a brain malfunction.”
Child psychiatrist Joseph Biederman, whose work helped fuel an explosion in the use of powerful antipsychotic medicines in children, was paid at least $1.6 million in consulting fees by drug companies from 2000 to 2007, income he failed to disclose prior to a congressional investigation into conflicts of interest.
Source: “Researchers Fail to Reveal Full Drug Pay,” New York Times, June 8, 2008
$9.9 billion
Sales of stimulant medication for ADHD were nearly $10 billion in 2012, more than five times the $1.7 billion a decade earlier.
Source: IMS Health
