(08-01-16) Increase in Antipsychotic Prescriptions Seen in Children Under Age 3 Years

By Kelly Young
Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and André Sofair, MD, MPH
Prescriptions for antipsychotics and antidepressants are increasing for children aged 2 years and younger, the New York Times reports.
Citing data from IMS Health, a prescription data firm, they note that antipsychotic prescriptions in toddlers increased from 13,000 to nearly 20,000 from 2013 to 2014, a 50% increase. It is not clear how many children received these prescriptions — the Times estimates it to be around 10,000. During this same time, prescriptions for the antidepressant fluoxetine grew 23%, to roughly 83,000. Most psychiatric drugs are not approved for such young children. Risperidone is approved for those as young as 5 for irritability related to autism. Others, including diazepam, are sometimes used in the very young to control seizures.
Experts suggest that clinicians may be prescribing antidepressants and antipsychotics for disruptive behavior, but they note the lack of published studies on benefits and risks in young children.
Some experts hypothesized that the medicine may have not been administered to children or that perhaps it was taken by an uninsured parent if the child was on Medicaid. The Times suggests that the increase in psychotropic use in all children could stem from the dearth of child psychiatrists, largely leaving the practice of child psychiatry to pediatricians.

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