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ADHD drug use for youth obesity raises ethical questions
POSTED: 3:04 p.m. EDT, March 21, 2007
Story Highlights
• Doctor uses ADHD drug Adderall, an amphetamine, to treat childhood obesity
• He says about 90 percent of his patients on Adderall have lost weight.
• Critics say the off-label use, while legal, is questionable and too risky
By Elizabeth Cohen
CNN
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(CNN) -- When Alex Veith was 11 years old, he was in a bad spot.
He was 30 pounds overweight, and blood tests showed he was headed toward Type 2 diabetes. His parents say Alex was already physically active and eating a healthy diet. They didn't know what to do.
Their pediatrician didn't know either, so she referred Lisa and Hank Veith to Dr. Fuad Ziai, a pediatric endocrinologist in nearby Oak Lawn, Illinois. In the summer before Alex entered sixth grade, Ziai prescribed Adderall, an amphetamine used to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Alex didn't have ADHD, but one of the drug's common side effects is weight loss. And that's what happened to Alex.
"You should have seen everyone when I went back to school the next year. They didn't believe it was me," says Alex. "It was a great feeling to be a thin kid."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/03/21/vs.adderall/index.html
Lazy assed Americans....
POSTED: 3:04 p.m. EDT, March 21, 2007
Story Highlights
• Doctor uses ADHD drug Adderall, an amphetamine, to treat childhood obesity
• He says about 90 percent of his patients on Adderall have lost weight.
• Critics say the off-label use, while legal, is questionable and too risky
By Elizabeth Cohen
CNN
Adjust font size:
Decrease fontDecrease font
Enlarge fontEnlarge font
(CNN) -- When Alex Veith was 11 years old, he was in a bad spot.
He was 30 pounds overweight, and blood tests showed he was headed toward Type 2 diabetes. His parents say Alex was already physically active and eating a healthy diet. They didn't know what to do.
Their pediatrician didn't know either, so she referred Lisa and Hank Veith to Dr. Fuad Ziai, a pediatric endocrinologist in nearby Oak Lawn, Illinois. In the summer before Alex entered sixth grade, Ziai prescribed Adderall, an amphetamine used to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Alex didn't have ADHD, but one of the drug's common side effects is weight loss. And that's what happened to Alex.
"You should have seen everyone when I went back to school the next year. They didn't believe it was me," says Alex. "It was a great feeling to be a thin kid."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/03/21/vs.adderall/index.html
Lazy assed Americans....