Doctors cautioned on Zyprexa for adolescents

The Federal Drug Administration on Friday issued a warning to doctors that adolescents taking the drug olanzapine have an "increased potential" -- in comparison with adults taking the new-generation antipsychotic drug -- for weight gain and metabolic disturbances that could result in diabetes or elevated blood cholesterol levels.

"Clinicians should consider the potential long-term risks when prescribing to adolescents," the FDA said in a statement released Friday night. "In many cases, this may lead to prescribe other drugs first," the statement went on.

The agency has not approved the marketing of olanzapine -- sold under the commercial name Zyprexa by the drug maker Eli Lilly -- for use in children under 13 who are diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. But the medication, one of a class of psychiatric medications called the "atypical antipsychotics," is widely prescribed for young patients, despite growing evidence that call its safety profile into question for this population.

The warning comes in the wake of the October publication in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., in which a study showed that children and adolescents taking their first-ever course of Zyprexa gained, on average, more than 17 pounds over a 12-week period, as well as dramatic increases in triglycerides and cholesterol levels -- all factors that put them at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. While two other antipsychotic drugs -- Seroquel and Risperdal -- were implicated in significant weight gain and metabolic changes, Zyprexa was found to carry the highest risks of all three.  

The FDA said that in cases where physicians opt to prescribe olanzapine, the drug should be part of a "comprehensive treatment program," which could include psychological, educational and social counseling as well as medication therapy.

--Melissa Healy

Comments

[Danny Haszard]

Eli Lilly has made $40 billion on $10 a pill Zyprexa and it was way oversold and caused diabetes and in some cases sudden death.

Zyprexa was pushed by Lilly Drug Reps.
They called it the "Five at Five" (5 mg at 5 pm to keep nursing home patients subdued and sleepy) and "VIVA ZYPREXA" (Zyprexa for everybody) campaigns to off label market Eli Lilly Zyprexa as a fix for unapproved usage.

I am a living example of Zyprexa gone/done wrong was given it 1996-2000 off-label for PTSD got sudden high blood sugar A1C 14.7 in January 2000.The stuff was worthless for my condition PTSD and cost me thousands in co-pays gave me diabetes.

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Daniel Haszard http://www.zyprexa-victims.com

[Jehovahinfo]

Zyprexa,as well as the other atypical antipsychotics, are being prescribed for children, even though this is an unapproved, off-label use.

A report by Dr. Cooper at Vanderbilt University states that 2.5 million children are now taking atypical antipsychotics. Over half are being given them for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Perhaps it is statistics like these that caused the FDA to finally require warnings on the labels of the ADHD drugs.

The use of atypical antipsychotics for children should be banned.
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Daniel Haszard