Feds Probe Antipsychotic Prescriptions For Children In Medicaid

In response to the rising rate at which antipsychotics are prescribed to children, the Office of Inspector General at the US Department of Health & Human Services is investigating the trend and asked the states to tighten prescribing oversight, The Wall Street Journal writes. The move comes amid ongoing that the drugs are used too freely to children to curb violent or aggressive behavior. The issue, in fact, has been contentious for several years, especially before drugmakers won FDA approval to market their antipsychotics, which are approved to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autistic disorder, to increasingly younger children (back story). Since then, reports have emerged about outsized Medicaid spending in various states. Meanwhile, US Senator Chuck Grassley has periodically pressed all 50 states to release data on physicians who widely prescribe the medications, prompting some to take disciplinary action (back stories here and here). Now, in recognition of the rising costs, HHS has picked up the thread. The agency wants to reduce “the unnecessarily high utilization,” Stephen Cha, a chief medical officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, tells the paper. Medicaid spends more on antipsychotics – including Eli Lilly’s (LLY) Zyprexa, Bristol-Myers Squibb's (BMY) Abilify, AstraZeneca’s (AZN) Seroquel and Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) Risperdal - than any other class of medicine. In 2008, the most recent year for which data was avail...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs