The new front in the war on drugs: the Rx counter
Are the American public and government missing the signs in a shift in drug abuse amongst the nation’s youth? Abuse of medication used to treat ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) is on the rise and it seems to have a direct correlation to a spike in prescribing habits during the late 1980s and early 90s.
According to a study conducted by Pediatrics (the official journal of the American academy of pediatrics) there has been a sharp rise in abuse by teenagers in the last decade.
OBJECTIVE: We sought to better understand the trend for prescription attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication abuse by teenagers.
METHODS: We queried the American Association of Poison Control Center’s National Poison Data System for the years of 1998–2005 for all cases involving people aged 13 to 19 years, for which the reason was intentional abuse or intentional misuse and the substance was a prescription medication used for ADHD treatment. For trend comparison, we sought data on the total number of exposures. In addition, we used teen and preteen ADHD medication sales data from IMS Health’s National Disease and Therapeutic Index database to compare poison center call trends with likely availability.
RESULTS: Calls related to teenaged victims of prescription ADHD medication abuse rose 76%, which is faster than calls for victims of substance abuse generally and teen substance abuse. The annual rate of total and teen exposures was unchanged. Over the 8 years, estimated prescriptions for teenagers and preteenagers increased 133% for amphetamine products, 52% for methylphenidate products, and 80% for both together. Reports of exposure to methylphenidate fell from 78% to 30%, whereas methylphenidate as a percentage of ADHD prescriptions decreased from 66% to 56%. Substance-related abuse calls per million adolescent prescriptions rose 140%.
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Okay, but how many teenagers are taking the drugs? The percentage increases of prescriptions indicates the numbers are going up, but what are the base numbers?
For example, can you say one in every 75 teens are taking these meds? One in 200? And what are the gross numbers? And how much is this drug industry worth?
Phillipe?
I this all your have? did you fail to post some stuff hitting the save button instead of the publish button?
MB