I read a news story the other day that was upsetting to me on so many levels – as a parent, a mental health advocate and simply as a human being. A four year old girl died from what appears to be an overdose of the prescription drugs she was being given for psychiatric disorders.
Rebecca Riley was taking Seroqel, an anti-psychotic; Depakote, which was presumably prescribed for bipolar disorder; and Clonidine, a blood pressure drug that is apparently used “off-label” to calm children. Off-label means that the drug is being used for a purpose other than the purpose approved by the FDA. Also, none of these drugs were approved by the FDA for use in children, for any purpose.
I have to say that my jaw dropped when I read this list of drugs, especially as Rebecca had been taking them since she was 2, when she was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and bipolar disorder. Not only is prescribing a medication off-label risky, since it has not been tested for that purpose, but prescribing several off-label medications together is even riskier, since their interaction has not been tested.
On top of the off-label aspect, we do not know enough at this point about how these types of medications affect children. We have no idea how they will affect a child's development and organs. It's unclear at this point whether regular blood tests were being run on Rebecca to determine whether her organs were being affected. Her autopsy did uncover damage to her heart and lungs, due to “prolonged abuse of these prescription drugs.”
The parents, Michael and Carolyn, have been charged with giving her an overdose of Clonidine, to “help” her sleep. Apparently this, along with the Depakote and over the counter cough medicine, led to her death.
Of course, the finger-pointing has already started. The lawyer for the parents is putting the blame on the doctor, questioning whether Rebecca should have been prescribed such strong medicine in the first place. The doctor claims that she specifically warned the mother against giving Rebecca more than the prescribed amount of Clonidine and threatened to report her to the Department of Social Services (DSS) if she did so.
In fact, the Massachusetts Department of Social Services investigated numerous complaints against the parents in the past, of both neglect and sexual and physical abuse. Michael Riley was ordered out of the home by DSS in 2005, but was apparently living there at the time of Rebecca's death.
This whole incident is wrong in so many ways, but one thing that really disturbs me is that I find it hard to believe that you can diagnose a two year old with bipolar disorder and ADD. Kids that age are moving targets. What child at age two actually has an attention span, for instance? What is also disturbing is that Rebecca's doctor prescribed almost identical medication for her two siblings as well. This really stretches the bounds of credulity for me. All three of them had exactly the same problems? Or was it that the doctor relied on the parents' description of the children's' problems for her diagnosis?
Rebecca Riley was taking Seroqel, an anti-psychotic; Depakote, which was presumably prescribed for bipolar disorder; and Clonidine, a blood pressure drug that is apparently used “off-label” to calm children. Off-label means that the drug is being used for a purpose other than the purpose approved by the FDA. Also, none of these drugs were approved by the FDA for use in children, for any purpose.
I have to say that my jaw dropped when I read this list of drugs, especially as Rebecca had been taking them since she was 2, when she was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and bipolar disorder. Not only is prescribing a medication off-label risky, since it has not been tested for that purpose, but prescribing several off-label medications together is even riskier, since their interaction has not been tested.
On top of the off-label aspect, we do not know enough at this point about how these types of medications affect children. We have no idea how they will affect a child's development and organs. It's unclear at this point whether regular blood tests were being run on Rebecca to determine whether her organs were being affected. Her autopsy did uncover damage to her heart and lungs, due to “prolonged abuse of these prescription drugs.”
The parents, Michael and Carolyn, have been charged with giving her an overdose of Clonidine, to “help” her sleep. Apparently this, along with the Depakote and over the counter cough medicine, led to her death.
Of course, the finger-pointing has already started. The lawyer for the parents is putting the blame on the doctor, questioning whether Rebecca should have been prescribed such strong medicine in the first place. The doctor claims that she specifically warned the mother against giving Rebecca more than the prescribed amount of Clonidine and threatened to report her to the Department of Social Services (DSS) if she did so.
In fact, the Massachusetts Department of Social Services investigated numerous complaints against the parents in the past, of both neglect and sexual and physical abuse. Michael Riley was ordered out of the home by DSS in 2005, but was apparently living there at the time of Rebecca's death.
This whole incident is wrong in so many ways, but one thing that really disturbs me is that I find it hard to believe that you can diagnose a two year old with bipolar disorder and ADD. Kids that age are moving targets. What child at age two actually has an attention span, for instance? What is also disturbing is that Rebecca's doctor prescribed almost identical medication for her two siblings as well. This really stretches the bounds of credulity for me. All three of them had exactly the same problems? Or was it that the doctor relied on the parents' description of the children's' problems for her diagnosis?
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