This sign caught my eye as I walked by the Elementary School today:
I laughed, thinking about all the parents and children who cross this zone with their meds tucked in their purses, briefcases and book bags. There should be a sign below this one that reads:
EXCLUDES: Adderall, Arcalion, Concerta, Desyrel, Hydrocodone, Lamictal, Paxil, Prozac, Ritalin, Vicodin, Welbutrin, Xanax, Zoloft, etc.
AND OTHER DRUGS MANUFACTURED BY: 3M, Abbott Laboratories, Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Lily, Merke & Co, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Shein, Swartz Pharma, etc.
AS ADVERTIZED: in magazines, on TV and the Internet
AND DISTRIBUTED BY: your Pediatritian, Physician, Psychiatrist or Surgeon
My brother, who works in the childcare industry, feels that the children he works with are being used as guinea pigs by the pharmecuetical companies, as they are often prescribed drugs that have not been tested on humans. Another concern is the allure of advertizing. Dr. Stephen Borowitz, in this article speaks about the dangers of giving Prilosec, that “purple pill” to children.
“I tell them about nondrug tactics that often help the symptoms,” says Borowitz, a professor of pediatric gastroenterology at the University of Virginia. “But they want their kids to have the pills they’ve seen on TV.”
The purple pill is just one of hundreds of powerful adult drugs — many of them not tested for pediatric use — that are increasingly being given to children.
