Florida Group for Disabled Asks State to Document Use of Antipsychotic Drugs

Concerned about the use of antipsychotic drugs, a Florida advocacy center for the disabled has asked the state attorney general's office to determine "how many of the 28,000 people the center represents are on [such] drugs," the Miami Herald reports. In a letter dated May 9, Pat Wear, the deputy director of the Advocacy Center for Persons With Disabilities, asked the office to provide the center with a "detailed accounting" of the antipsychotic drugs given to "disabled Floridians living in community settings" (Miller, Miami Herald, 5/11). The letter was written two days after the Herald reported that about 600 Florida children enrolled in the state's Medicaid program were treated last year with "powerful psychiatric drugs" intended for adult schizophrenia patients. The drugs, which include Clozaril, Zyprexa and Risperdal, were used as "chemical restraints" on "unmanageable children," and resulted in numerous side effects including lethargy, agitation tremors and "unusually large" breast development (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/8). Officials from the center believe the state has an obligation to conduct the research under terms of a settlement made last year in a class-action lawsuit in which the center had claimed that a "program to provide care for the disabled in community settings was underfunded, leaving thousands of Floridians without needed therapy, medical care and adaptive equipment." In the letter to the attorney general's office, Wear wrote, "As you know, use of powerful medications to control behavior, and potential medication side effects, have been a concern of the center for some time." The Herald reports that a spokesperson for attorney general's office said it would give the request "due consideration" (Miller, Miami Herald, 5/11).