Sue Scheff: DrugWatch.com - Knowing What Your Doctor is Prescribing to Your Teens or Children

Prescription medications and teens and children has been a debate for years.  The controversy over ADD/ADHD medication such as Ritalin, Adderall, Strattera, Concerta and others has been hashed out in medical reports and articles for many years.


According to the American Academy of Dermatology, by mid-teens more than 40 percent of adolescents have acne or acne scarring which may require treatment by a dermatologist and use of prescription drugs such as Accutane to treat their condition, not realizing the drug’s serious side effects like liver failure, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and depression which can lead to suicide. One unfortunate example of this effect is Congressman Bart Stupak’s son, who tragically took his own life after being on Accutane to treat his acne.
According to DrugWatch, on June 29, 2009, Roche Pharmaceuticals pulled Accutane from the market due to numerous personal injury lawsuits and business costs. Isotretinoin, the generic form of Accutane, is still available in generic form under different brand names in the U.S. for the treatment of acne and other conditions.

What medications are your teenagers or children taking regularly?  Do you do your due diligence in researching the medication prior giving them to your child to take?
For more information on many prescriptive drugs, visit www.drugwatch.com and find out more about what you or your children are taking.

There have been clinics in Jacksonville that are under investigation for illegal prescriptions.  Click here for this story.

Be an educated parent, you will have safer and healthier teens.


Related articles:
Operation Medicine Cabinet
Not My Kid
Parents: The Anti-Drug

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