One doctor got $689,000: Adverse drug reactions of atypical anti-psychotic drugs

Anya Bailey developed an eating disorder after she turned 12, so her mother brought her to a psychiatrist. The doctor prescribed Risperdal, a powerful antipsychotic drug that had been created for schizophrenia. The FDA has not approved Risperdal for the treatment of eating disorders, but doctors can prescribe drugs as they see fit, and increased appetite is a common side effect.

Anya gained weight, but developed a crippling knot in her back (dystonia), and often awakes, crying in pain. She now receives regular injections of Botox to unclench her back muscles.

A doctor at the nearby Mayo Clinic, which prevents doctors from receiving lecture money from drug makers, insisted that Anya stop taking Risperdal. Anya got counseling, which ended in March. Now she is back to a normal weight, without the help of drugs. Anya’s mother wishes she had waited to see whether counseling would help, before trying drugs.

Anya’s mother was surprised to learn that the evidence backing the use of such drugs was minimal: the relevant medical trials studied as few as eight children. She was also surprised to learn that the psychiatrist had received $7,000 from Johnson and Johnson, the maker of Risperdal, for lectures about one of J&J’s drugs.

Doctors claim that payments from drug makers do not influence their prescribing patterns. But an analysis by the New York Times disputes that, finding that psychiatrists who received at least $5,000 from the makers of these “atypical anti-psychotic” drugs prescribed them three times as often as doctors who received little or no money from drug makers.

One doctor received “more than $689,000” for her drug talks. The last eight presidents of the Minnesota Psychiatric Society all received money from drug makers.

Advice: Ask the doctor what studies say on the long-run effects of the drug being prescribed. Ask about alternatives to drugs, too.

Read another of our adverse drug reaction stories, or the source story in today’s NY Times, “Psychiatrists, Troubled Children and Drug Industry’s Role,” by Gardiner Harris, Benedict Carey, and Janet Roberts.