Patients and parents should discuss side effects with doctors. The problem is, that until recently, many doctors were unaware of the updated side effects of Singulair. I am the director of Parents United for Pharmaceutical Safety and Accountability, an advocacy group promoting education about the symptoms of adverse reactions to Singulair. We have reviewed countless parent reports on medications.com where the child's doctors were completely unaware that their symptoms could be caused by Singulair! These children were subsequently misdiagnosed with behavioral, developmental, learning and mental disorders - or their parents were told that they were "going through a stage".

The current product labeling does a poor job of explaining symptoms. Parents are often unaware the behavior of their child is due to an adverse reaction to Singulair. Take the symptom of agitation for example. How many people understand that prolonged agitation can lead to confusion, aggression and hyperactivity? I have had personal contact with parents who were convinced their children were suffering from symptoms of an adverse reaction to Singulair and their spouse was convinced that the child had ADHD. Only after a thorough understanding of the symptoms were they able to knowledgeably discuss their child's condition with the doctor. In the cases where the decision was made to discontinue treatment with Singulair, the children's symptoms abated.

More research needs to be conducted to determine why Singulair causes psychiatric symptoms, why it only happens to some people, how to predict who it will happen to, and if children are at risk for permanent damage. Parents are concerned and nobody is giving us answers!