Danish children at risk from psychotropic medicines; tighter controls may needed

Between 1998 and 2007, psychotropic medications were associated with 429 adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in children aged under 17 in Denmark. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Research Notes found that more than half of these were serious and several were birth defects - suggesting that tighter controls on the prescription of psychotropic medications to pregnant women may be required.

Lise Aagaard and Ebba Holme Hansen from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, studied all 4,500 pediatric adverse drug reaction reports submitted during the study period to find those which were linked to psychotropic medications. Ms Aagaard said: "The high number of serious ADRs reported for psychotropic medicines in the pediatric population should be a concern for health care professionals and physicians".

The two researchers found that the largest share of adverse reactions (42%) was reported for psychostimulants (such as Ritalin; methylphenidate), followed by 31% for antidepressants (such as Prozac; fluoxetine) and 24% for antipsychotics (such as Haldol; haloperidol).