The US Food and Drug Administration has indicated it will approve a patch for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, provided that the manufacturers agree to certain changes in how the ADHD patch will be labelled and agree to monitor the product once it is on the market.
There are patches for quitting smoking, and patches for birth control — so why not a patch for ADHD? Early clinical trials suggest that a methylphenidate transdermal system (MTS), or patch, demonstrated statistically significant reductions in the symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and was generally well tolerated in patients aged 6 to 12.
Results of the largest and most comprehensive independent drug trial ever conducted to investigate therapies for schizophrenia suggest that five atypical antipsychotic medications are no more effective — and no safer — than an older, cheaper, drug that has largely been discontinued. The 18-month, $44 million study involved 1400 people and was funded by the US National Institute for Mental Health.
Many second-generation antidepressants, despite differences in drug classification and cost, offer patients essentially the same benefits with little variation in risks, researchers have found. Comparative evidence on anti-depressant drugs indicates only minimal differences in efficacy, although some come with an increased risk of certain side effects.
Male doctors are far more likely to prescribe antidepressant medications as a first response to patients with mild or moderate depression than their female colleagues, according to a mental health charity. Female GPs are much more likely to believe that counselling is the most effective response, but are not much more likely to refer patients to it.
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