Risperdal Medication and
its Uses
Risperdal is an antipsychotic drug that was
approved to treat symptoms of schizophrenia. The approval
of Risperdal was successful, creating $2.1 billion in annual global
sales. While Risperdal uses were not intended to cure mental illnesses,
it appeared to successfully treat symptoms of them without serious adverse
effects. At the beginning of April 2003, J&J announced the company
was planning on sending out thousands of letter to U.S. physicians to
advise them of the increased risk of stroke appearing in elderly Risperdal
patients.
The Risperdal stroke announcement was especially concerning
to many people because Risperdal uses have become more widespread over
the years. These days, Risperdal is not prescribed exclusively to help
treat mental illnesses, instead Risperdal uses have been used more and
more to control behavioral disorders in elderly patients, conduct disorders
in children, and now for autism in children. J&J had already made
an announcement warning Canadian doctors and patients of the Risperdal
stroke risks in October 2002, and included in the warning was citations
of 37 reports of Risperdal stroke or Risperdal stroke-like events, including
16 deaths.
Recent clinical trials of Risperdal were troubling
because of the Risperdal uses amongst dementia patients. Public Citizen
consumer group pharmacist and research analyst Larry Sasich believes
that there are worrisome safety implications with Risperdal clinical
trials. The Risperdal clinical trials involved Alzheimer patients that
Sasich said developed Risperdal strokes in a much higher occurrence
as compared to placebo recipients. There were 29 Risperdal stroke and
stroke-related events amongst the 764 patients that were tested in four
specific trials, amounting to 4% of all patients. There were four Risperdal
deaths as well, compared to just one death in placebo recipients.
Since Risperdal uses were not FDA approved for dementia,
Sasich believes that, “it looks like doctors are hurting people by prescribing
it for this condition.” The Risperdal clinical findings are trends
that need to be further examined amongst younger schizophrenia Risperdal
users, according to Sasich, to better determine if Risperdal uses should
be more limited.
The FDA acknowledges Risperdal uses amongst children
have not been determined safe. Little is known about Risperdal uses
amongst children since Risperdal was intended for adult use amongst
schizophrenic patients. Risperdal uses amongst children has been debated
for years, and in January 2003, more evidence seemed to side with child
advocates that Risperdal risks are too great for child prescription.
A medical journal, Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent
Medicine reported that the number of children taking psychiatric
drugs nationwide has at least doubled within the last decade. A disturbing
trend, according to the study’s lead author, is that Risperdal uses
appear to be increasing while little research has ever been done on
how the compounds of Risperdal affect younger patients. The Risperdal
uses for children are occurring not to treat schizophrenic children,
rather given to children to ease symptoms of brain dysfunctions such
as attention deficit disorder and bipolar disorder.
Child advocates believe the increase in Risperdal uses
for child conduct disorders is part of a national epidemic of legal
drug abuse for children that are not mentally ill but prescribed powerful
psychotropic medicines that have only been tested on adults for safety.
Many people are concerned that Risperdal uses are being justified for
bad behavior in children. Psychiatry has become more about prescribing
powerful drugs instead of counseling or other types of traditional psychiatry
work, according to many critics.
The introduction of newer, more powerful drugs have
allowed patients to receive treatments that were previously unavailable.
The risk that comes along with newer medications is that some physicians
and patients have started to believe there is a drug to treat any type
of ailment without considering that these new drugs are very powerful
and potentially very dangerous if used for the wrong indications. There
have not been enough studies showing the effectiveness alongside the
safeness of Risperdal uses for things other than schizophrenia. The
recent finding that there is an increased risk of stroke in elderly
Risperdal patients will hopefully result in more studies to determine
the level of safety for Risperdal
