Kids are getting fewer prescription drugs

Antibiotic use is down, but ADHD and asthma prescriptions went up.

June 18, 2012 at 4:50PM

New research shows that the number of prescriptions written for children has dropped by 7 percent in recent years.

Between 2002 and 2010, notable decreases occurred in antibiotic, cough/cold, allergy, pain and depression prescriptions, according to the study, which was conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. At the same time, there was a rise in the number of asthma, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and contraceptive prescriptions.

"Approximately 263 million prescriptions were dispensed to the pediatric population in 2010 -- 7 percent lower than the number of prescriptions dispensed in 2002," the study authors said, adding that the number of prescriptions written for children dropped by 2.4 million each year between 2002 and 2010.

During that time, however, the number of prescriptions written for adults increased by 22 percent.

The top 10 prescribed drugs for children 17 and under in 2010 included antibiotics, asthma medications and the pain reliever ibuprofen. Antibiotics accounted for approximately one-quarter of all prescriptions written between 2002 and 2010. By 2010, however, the number of antibiotic prescriptions had decreased by 14 percent.

"This could potentially be good news. The antibiotic numbers are consistent with the efforts to decrease the use of antibiotics for upper respiratory infections," said Dr. Kenneth Bromberg, chairman of pediatrics at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City.

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Colleen Stoxen

Deputy Managing Editor for News Operations

Colleen Stoxen oversees hiring, intern programs, newsroom finances, news production and union relations. She has been with the Minnesota Star Tribune since 1987, after working as a copy editor and reporter at newspapers in California, Indiana and North Dakota.

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