"Atypical antipsychotics are extremely powerful drugs that are being used far too commonly “ especially in children “ given their safety issues and side effects," said Dr. David Muzina, a specialist in mood disorders and national practice leader of the Medco Therapeutic Resource Center for Neuroscience.  "We're seeing them prescribed for a number of different conditions including depression and anxiety for which there is not good evidence that they are an effective treatment and yet we're exposing children to the possibility of extreme weight gain that could lead to a host of health problems including diabetes."

Questions of safety did have a major impact on curbing antidepressant use in young people, dropping about 23 percent since 2004 when the FDA issued its strongest safety warnings on the risk of suicidality in children using these medications.

Asthma Alert

Respiratory drug use grew 5.0 percent for children in 2009 and was up 42 percent since 2001.  Rising asthma rates accounted for much of the increase, as well as greater awareness of the disease and the importance of early intervention in controlling disease progression.  This class of drugs was responsible for the highest proportion of net costs of medications among children.  

The H1N1 Factor

Children saw a 46 percent spike in the use of antiviral drugs, by far the largest increase of all age groups and driven by the high incidence of H1N1 in the young.  Children's usage was primarily responsible for the 9.0 percent rise in utilization for the overall population.

Additional Pediatric Drug Developments

In 2009, the FDA expanded to pediatric patients the indications for cholesterol drugs, Welchol?® (colesevalm HCl) and Crestor?® (rosuvastatin); Atacand?® (candesartan cilexetil) for hypertension; Axert?® for migraines; heartburn treatment Protonix?® (pantoprazole); and atypical antipsychotic medications Abilify?® (aripriprazole), Seroquel?® (quetieapine fumarate) and Zyprexa?® (olanzapine).

Copies of the Medco 2010 Drug Trend Report can be downloaded from www.drugtrend.

SOURCE Medco Health Solutions, Inc.