Ethical Concerns of Antidepressants for Children Abstract

Several questions have emerged as a result of the growing number of antidepressants prescribed for children in recent years. For example, are medications over-prescribed because it is an easy method of handling childhood depression and other conditions such as ADHD (Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), and conduct disorder? Is the use of tricyclic and nontricylcic antidepressants by children and adolescents safe? If not, why are they so widely prescribed? Prescriptions for antidepressant medications tripled in the United States between 1988 and 1998. Up to 800,000 antidepressant prescriptions were written in 1997 for children, some of whom were only

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long-term potential effects on children. Goodkin (1999) reported that pediatricians and family physicians do not hesitate to prescribe SSRIs for children and adolescents, despite the lack of substantial data on safety and efficacy in the pediatric age group. Walsh and McDougle (2000) pointed out that one of the problems with respect to the use of tricyclic and nontricyclic antidepressants in children is that few studies have been conducted which examine the long-term effects of these medicines. The PDR (2000) identifies the tricyclic category of drugs as associated with cardiac problems as well as tinnitus, seizures, increased ocular pressure, vomiting, diarrhea, and anorexia. Particularly troubling with this class of drugs is the risk of tardive dyskinesia, a disabling, irreversible neuromuscular disorder which appears after years of drug treatment (PDR, 2000). A major problem is that there is no formal policy in place at either the governmental level or among pediatricians and their associations with respect to prescribing SSRIÆs to children. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the only psychiatric diagnosis for which pediatric use of SSRIs has been approved. In spite of this, many pediatricians who admit to being less
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Approximate Word count = 1901
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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