ADHD child prescribing rates increase sharply

Source: Speed Up & Sit Still: The Story of ADHD in Australia

ADHD child prescribing rates increase sharply; with Sydney, Brisbane and Hobart vying for the dubious honour of being Australia’s Child Drugging Capital

Australian Government figures indicate that between 2007 and 2009 the number of children in Australia on Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidised ADHD drugs increased 23%, with large variations between states. In 2009 children living in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania were nearly twice as likely to be ‘medicated’ for ADHD than children living in South Australia, Victoria and the Northern Territory.

‘This large increase in the Australia wide child prescribing rate was caused by new drugs being subsidised via the PBS and the aggressive marketing of ADHD.’

Queensland, which allows General Practitioners to prescribe amphetamine based ADHD drugs unsupervised by either a Psychiatrist or Paediatrician, saw the highest rate of growth with a increase of 37% between 2007 and 2009.

Even Victoria which has traditionally had relatively low prescribing rates (in 2009 still 30% below the national per capita rate) saw an alarming 19% increase between 2007 and 2009.

The two states that had the highest prescribing rates in the country throughout the 1990’s, Western Australia and South Australia, are now lower than the national average (by 2% and 39% respectively).

Western Australian Health Department figures indicate that the number of children on ADHD drugs has fallen by between 60% and 70% after tighter amphetamine prescribing controls were introduced in 2003. This fall coincided with halving in the proportion of teenagers abusing amphetamines between 2002 and 2008. (refer to the Rise and Fall of Child ADHD in Western Australia and Perth a Case Study in ADHD Amphetamine Abuse.) ‘WA’s history clearly supports the common sense proposition that if you stop giving teenagers a free supply of amphetamines they are less likely to abuse amphetamines.’

South Australia was the second highest ADHD prescribing state in the 1990’s and is now the lowest. ‘This is attributable in large part to the advocacy of leading Adelaide Child Psychiatrist, Dr Jon Jureidini, who was prepared to tackle out of control prescribers through medical complaints mechanisms.’

 

Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme Child Prescribing (0-18) Patient Numbers for ADHD Drugs in 2009

(source Australia Government – Medicare Australia)

State	ACT	NSW	NT	QLD	SA	TAS	VIC	WA	AUSTRALIA
Strattera	80	1721	35	1885	254	89	826	449	5339
Dexamphetamine	57	2554	45	2568	707	360	1391	1529	9211
Methylphenidate	692	19622	304	10348	1643	1334	8105	4239	46284
Total Unique Child Patients	791	22824	366	13711	2426	1687	9749	5865	57419
% over (under) National Per Capita Rate	(11%)	22%	(50%)	14%	(39%)	29%	(30%)	(2%)	0%