In Florida, Doctors With Drug Company Ties Prescribe Drugs for Jailed Youth

[EFerrari]

In Florida, Doctors With Drug Company Ties Prescribe Drugs for Jailed Youth



by Marian Wang
ProPublica, May 23, 2011, 12:55 p.m.

About a third of psychiatrists serving Florida’s juvenile jails and prescribing drugs to incarcerated youths have accepted payments from the drug companies <1> that manufacture antipsychotic medications, according to an investigation by the Palm Beach Post. Massive amounts of the medications have been purchased and administered by the state juvenile justice system, which has no method for tracking prescriptions and diagnoses <2> to see whether the drugs were prescribed appropriately.

A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice told the Post that the department “expressly prohibits the use of these medications as a chemical restraint.” A former spokesman, however, acknowledged that doctors serving the state’s jailed youths do prescribe the drugs off-label—or for uses that are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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In our series Dollars for Docs <3>, we've been reporting on drug company payments to doctors <4> and the ethical issues and conflicts of interests raised by such financial ties within the medical industry <5>.

http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/in-florida-doctors-with-drug-company-ties-prescribe-drugs-for-jailed-youth

[Mojorabbit]

1. Pull their licenses! nt

[EFerrari]

2. It's hard enough for adults to hold the medical establishment responsible

for the way it prescribes drugs.

But kids and incarcerated kids at that?

This place reminds me of the Soviet Union more and more every day. :(