News: Medication and Your Kids

Although I don't have children, I have many friends and family who do. The alarming increase in medicating children with pharmaceuticals concerns me greatly. The following text is the introduction to a Frontline investigation on the medication of children:

"In recent years, there's been a dramatic increase in the number of children being diagnosed with serious psychiatric disorders and prescribed medications that are just beginning to be tested in children. The drugs can cause serious side effects, and virtually nothing is known about their long-term impact. 'It's really to some extent an experiment, trying medications in these children of this age,' child psychiatrist Dr. Patrick Bacon tells FRONTLINE. 'It's a gamble. And I tell parents there's no way to know what's going to work.'

I urge all parents of children under 18, to view the full story. The decisions you make regarding the medication of your child are your business, but it's important to understand the risk vs. reward when doing so. The full program is 60 minutes long. It is split into eight segments (roll your mouse over the faded images just above the video, to see all the segments). You can watch it online here:

FRONTLINE: The Medicated Child