XPost: alt.society.mental-health, alt.psychology.personality   
   From: pjbrass@uswest.net   
      
   Everyone can listen in on this meeting.  The review group's meeting   
   will be 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. June 25 via teleconference. Those   
   interested can call 888-808-6959 and enter conference code 8509227702.   
      
   Letters to the editor: letters@news-jrnl.com   
      
   Daytona Beach News Journal   
   Panel to review Medicaid guidelines for antipsychotic drugs   
   By M.C. MOEWE   
   Staff Writer   
      
   A panel named this month to discuss changing state guidelines on   
   paying for antipsychotic drugs for children will meet for the first   
   time June 25.   
      
   At stake is the future treatment of more than 18,000 children in   
   Florida currently receiving atypical antipsychotics medication for   
   conditions ranging from ADHD to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.   
      
   The number of children in the Florida Medicaid program prescribed the   
   powerful drugs has nearly doubled from 9,364 kids in 2000 to 18,137 in   
   2006, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported in January.   
      
   Among those children, the most common primary diagnosis was attention   
   deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) -- an ailment not approved for   
   treatment with antipsychotics by the Food and Drug Administration or   
   by experts on the disease.   
      
   Medicaid will pay for a drug only if it is "medically necessary and   
   prescribed for medically accepted indications," according to current   
   state guidelines.   
      
      
   Former Florida Agency for Health Care Secretary Dr. Andrew Agwunobi   
   created the review group in January. The panel's 11 members were   
   announced this month, and officials said their recommendations will be   
   presented to the agency's Pharmaceutical and Therapeutic Committee   
   after the June 25 meeting.   
      
   Dr. Lisa Cosgrove, a Merritt Island pediatrician who is a member of   
   the review group and committee, said she will rely on a state-funded   
   study by the Medicaid Drug Therapy Management Program for Behavioral   
   Health at the University of South Florida when making recommendations.   
   "It's a good baseline model to follow," she said.   
      
   During that 2005 study, a panel of experts recommended that   
   antipsychotics (some of these drugs include: Risperdal, Seroquel,   
   Zyprex, Abilify and Geodon) should not be used primarily to target   
   ADHD, nor should antipsychotics be given to children younger than age   
   6 except under the most extraordinary circumstances.   
      
   The review group's meeting will be 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. June 25 via   
   teleconference. Those interested can call 888-808-6959 and enter   
   conference code 8509227702.   
      
   Link to story:   
   http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/EastVol   
   sia/evlEAST07053008.htm   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)