ADHD Drug Abuse Gives Parents New Cause for Concern

August 25, 2009

teen-drugs-medicine As more prescriptions are being written for medications to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), an increasing number of children are abusing these drugs at an alarming rate.

This is the conclusion of new research in the September issue of Pediatrics that found the rate of ADHD medication abuse was up a staggering 76 percent from 1998 to 2005. It is important to note that at the same time, the rates of prescriptions for these medications rose more than 80 percent.

Sadly, phone calls to poison control centers about teens abusing these drugs provided sobering evidence about the dangerous consequences of prescription misuse. The calls came mostly from worried parents seeking advice on how to deal with the problem, which is potentially lethal. Four deaths from overdosing were among cases evaluated in the study.

Children increasing their use of prescription ADHD drugs to get high or heighten their level of alertness during the school day, most often are unaware that misuse of the drugs can cause serious, and sometimes life-threatening reactions, including rapid heartbeat, and extremely high blood pressure.

Steve Pasierb, head of The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, based in New York explains that most kids simply think, “It’s a legal drug and it’s FDA approved, how dangerous could it be?’”

In the study, researchers from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center reviewed raw data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers. During the study’s seven-year time period, nationwide calls related to teen abuse of ADHD drugs, most notably a variety of stimulants, increased from 330 to 581 yearly. Overall, 42 percent of teens involved had moderate to severe side-effects and most ended up in hospital emergency-rooms.

Researchers believe that the actual number of teen abusers suffering negative and potentially harmful side effects is likely much higher, because many cases don’t result in calls to poison control centers, said study author Dr. Randall Bond, medical director of the hospital’s Drug and Poison Information Center.

The surge, from 1998 to 2005 in the abuse of ADHD drugs paralleled an 86 percent rise in prescriptions for these medications during this time to children who range in age from 10 to 19. In 1998 approximately four million children were on ADHD medication. By 2005 that number had increased to almost eight million.

The Cincinnati study suggests that approximately 19 percent of teens abuse prescription drugs including medicine for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Government-sponsored surveys suggest that teen abuse of stimulants including ADHD drugs has actually declined in recent years.

Mark Stein, a psychiatry professor and ADHD expert at University of Illinois at Chicago, said teen abuse of these drugs typically involves crushing and snorting the pills, which speeds up the effects and can produce a buzz or sense of euphoria. Kids who develop serious side effects should be taken to the emergency room, where sedatives can be used to treat the problem, Stein urged.

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