Dangerously Overmedicating Foster Children

BY ADAM REHMAN

New reports have recently been revealed, explaining that many children in foster care have been prescribed an alarmingly high amount and dangerous combination of anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medications. The Government Accountability Office released that nearly 425,000 children were affected.

The drugs are used as a convenient solution to these children’s problems instead of proper psychotherapy or in some instances just parents. These kids are thirteen times more likely to be given these mind-altering drugs than other children. The combination and quantity of these medications is at times considered too risky even for adults according to the FDA. Some of the medicines that are being prescribed are so new that they do not know how they will react with children. Currently, half of the United States still does not have or are still in the process of developing policies for psychotropic drug use in foster children.

“You know, there are a lot of people you need to talk to, to find out as much as you can about what the child’s behavior is like in a variety of different situations before you make a determination that you’re going to use something like a very powerful medication to treat them” – Charles Zeanah, Tulane University

Psychotropic drugs are defined as medicines that alter chemical levels in the brain, which impact mood and behavior. Some examples of these drugs are: Antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers.Most of the drugs used are considered “off-label.” This means they are used for purposes other than those that they are approved of.

Although these medicines have their uses and place, they should never be over used and should always be properly prescribed in order to maintain safe mental health especially for children.  It is a shame that this subject has not been given attention until recently, but at least now something can be done to fix this problem.

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