New antipsychotic drugs carry risks for children – Side effects can lead to bigger health problems

USA TODAY
By Marilyn Elias
Nancy Thomas remembers the bad old days when she had to wear long-sleeve clothes to church to cover bite marks all over her arms from her daughter Alexa’s rages.
At age 8, Alexa was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She was a violent child with sharp mood swings and meltdowns that drove her to [...]

Adult antipsychotics can worsen troubles; Critics: Look at other causes before medicating children

USA TODAY
By Marilyn Elias
Evan Kitchens, a cheerful fourth-grader who loves basketball and idolizes his 16-year-old brother, had been hospitalized for mental illness by the time he was 8.
The boy from Bandera, Texas, was aggressive and hyperactive and had been diagnosed with a variety of other ailments, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and an autism spectrum disorder.
A couple [...]

For Evan, more drugs made things worse; One family’s nightmare

USA TODAY
By Marilyn Elias
Rising numbers of U.S. children are taking a new generation of antipsychotic drugs called atypicals.
Although the six drugs — Clozaril, Risperdal, Zyprexa, Seroquel, Abilify and Geodon — can be helpful in treating children with mental illness, critics say that the drugs are overprescribed and that many kids suffer serious side effects from drugs [...]