Friday, September 26, 2003

Medscape Journal Scan - Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, August 2003
Selected articles from Archives of General Psychiatry, the American Journal of Psychiatry, JAMA, the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Drug implant offers hope, spurs worry
Boston Globe story - "Researchers said yesterday that they are prepared to seek FDA approval of a surgically implanted tablet that could deliver daily doses of psychiatric medication for as long as a year. The implants might revolutionize treatment of chronic mental illnesses like schizophrenia, which now require patients to take daily cocktails of powerful medications. For some, the implant of haloperidol, a powerful antipsychotic drug, promises to stop the destructive spirals of psychosis that occur when patients stop taking medication because of side effects, logistical barriers, or lapses in memory. But patients' rights advocates say that implants of psychiatric medication would give the state coercive power unmatched since the age of the lobotomy. ...  Audience members raised concerns yesterday about possible widespread use of implants, most pointedly, the danger that they would be used in the criminal justice system as an alternative to imprisonment. Others worried that the managed-care industry would promote implants because they would offer the cost savings of reduced psychiatric visits."