Nearly 5% of Connecticut Children Enrolled in Medicaid Have Been Prescribed Psychiatric Drugs

Nearly 5% of children enrolled in Connecticut's Medicaid program have been prescribed psychiatric drugs at some point, according to a study released June 5 by the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut. The Hartford Courant reports that the study investigated earlier findings that the state Medicaid program spent $5.8 million per year on psychiatric drugs for children. Stimulants such as Ritalin, antidepressants and mood stabilizers were among the most commonly prescribed drugs, and "[d]isruptive behavioral disorders," depression and bipolar disorder were the most common conditions treated with the drugs, according to the study. In addition, the study found that boys between the ages of 10 and 14 were most likely to be prescribed psychiatric medicines, and white children were "substantially" more likely than their black or Hispanic counterparts to be prescribed the drugs. Nearly 400 children under age four had been prescribed psychiatric drugs, while "a few" children younger than one year old had received the drugs as well. Dr. Andres Martin, a child psychiatrist with the Yale Child Study Center in New Haven, Conn., said that some of the children prescribed the drugs at younger ages may have had neurological disorders, such as seizures, but added that he "can't make any sense of why a 1-year-old would be on Prozac." He said that pediatricians and family physicians are more likely than mental health specialists to prescribe psychiatric drugs to children, a finding that points to "a need to ensure that community physicians are well educated about children's behavioral health issues and treatments." Administrators at the institute are currently creating a curriculum for training pediatricians, nurse practitioners and family doctors about issues related to children's mental health (Waldman, Hartford Courant, 6/4).