Antipsychotic misuse wasted Medicaid funds

The College of Pharmacy at Oregon State University, USA, has published research indicating that drugs which are supposed to be prescribed for  serious mental illnesses are being given at low doses to patients for  conditions where the agents' benefit have not been established. The  study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was published by the  Journal of Clinical Psychology and carried out in partnership with  Columbia University and the Oregon Health and Science University.

Among the findings of the research team, drugs costing $20-$25 per day  were used to treat depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder  or even insomnia, despite the products being designed for use in cases  of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Daniel Hartung, one of the  study's authors, said: "some drug companies have been accused of  encouraging and expanding the off-label use of drugs and that may be  where part of this misinformation is coming from." He added that,  "regardless of what's causing this, it's a serious concern, both for  ensuring resources are used judiciously and protecting health care  quality."

In Oregon, the state Medicaid program spent $2.5 million for the chronic  "subtherapeutic" use of one antipsychotic agent in adult patients alone,  the researchers claim. Nearly 30% of all out-patient fee-for-service  drug spending in 2006 was accounted for by strong antipsychotics.