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  • 6/16/2025
A look at the increase in diagnoses of bipolar disorder and other psychiatric disorders in children, and how they're being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs that have had little or no prior testing.

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00:00In 2001, Frontline reported on the dramatic rise in the number of children being given
00:25behavior-modifying medications.
00:29We cannot, as a nation, continue to play a game of Russian roulette with our children's
00:35lives.
00:36Leave our kids alone.
00:38Don't label.
00:39Don't run.
00:40The medications were the subject of fierce debate.
00:43Today, the concerns over medicating kids continue.
00:46My daughter passed away in the night.
00:51What's going on?
00:52My daughter passed away.
00:53And now, one million children have been diagnosed with a new and controversial diagnosis.
00:59I have bipolar, but taking my medication makes me more like I'm supposed to be.
01:05In the morning, she takes two trileptol.
01:07Jessica can't live without medication.
01:10The drugs used to treat it are powerful.
01:13These are not benign drugs.
01:14You don't use them lightly.
01:16And many are untested.
01:18It's a little worrisome to me because he is so young.
01:21Okay, we'll open these first.
01:23Tonight on Frontline, the medicated child.
01:28This is all for posterity.
01:29You know.
01:30When he's president.
01:31You know.
01:32When he's president.
01:33You know.
01:34And they're like doing back story on his life and stuff.
01:35Speak of the devil.
01:36Happy birthday.
01:37Happy birthday, Jacob.
01:39I can't reach out you.
01:40So, if the devil gets relieve, I can't help you.
01:42That's what we'll be doing.
01:43Praise God.
01:45Can you come back to us every day.
01:46No doubt.
01:47Get no relief.
01:48I will be happy birthday.
01:49Why do we kiss your hands?
01:50Jesus!
01:51How do we kiss your hands?
01:52And some strange of our way.
01:53I'll be porte blanches.
01:54You know.
01:55I'll becampus.
01:56I'll be fine.
01:57back story on his life and stuff. Speak of the devil.
02:00Happy birthday, Jacob.
02:05Oh, and you're the writer, huh?
02:07That's why I'm not the reader.
02:08Oh, I got it.
02:16Jacob's story begins in Los Angeles back in 1993.
02:22That's his dad, Ron, a scriptwriter in Hollywood.
02:24And Iris, his mother.
02:31Until Jacob was three years old, his parents say, he had no big problems.
02:36This is Jacob at work.
02:39What are you today, a shoemaker?
02:41Yeah.
02:42Yeah, what are you making?
02:43Pows.
02:46But sometime after his third birthday,
02:49Jacob would begin down a path taken by millions of American children.
02:53It started when a teacher suggested he was hyperactive.
02:59He got kicked out of mommy and me's.
03:02You know, it was two-and-a-half-year-old kids, three-year-old kids.
03:05And they were saying he has no impulse control.
03:09And we were arguing with them, saying,
03:10well, what three-year-old has impulse control?
03:12To the fish, to the fish, to the fish.
03:18In preschool, another teacher suggested medication.
03:22To the fish, to the fish, to the fish.
03:25Her opinion was that there was a chemical situation going on with this child
03:29that maybe medication could help.
03:32But we thought, a four-year-old?
03:35I mean, you know, why put him on pharmaceuticals at age four?
03:38Little boy.
03:39He's a little kid.
03:41For a year, the Solomons resisted medicating Jacob.
03:46But teachers persisted.
03:49Finally, Jacob's parents took him to a doctor.
03:53Regular smile, regular.
03:56Jacob was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
04:00ADHD, and prescribed Ritalin.
04:03Can I try, please?
04:05You know what?
04:06We're not going to give you the camera.
04:07The Ritalin helped with the hyperactivity, but it made him anxious.
04:11I just want to hold the videotape for one minute.
04:14And so then we'd end up giving him a second medication to deal with the anxiety.
04:19And then the second medication would cause something else.
04:22Some compulsive behavior or a tick.
04:25And then they'd say, okay, give him a third thing.
04:29And so finally, it was like that whole,
04:31there was an old lady who swallowed the fly.
04:34And then the fly, she had to swallow the spider to get rid of the fly.
04:37And then she had to swallow the mouse to get rid of the spider.
04:40That's what the meds were like.
04:42Can you say happy birthday, Teresa?
04:43Happy birthday.
04:45Can you sound a little more excited?
04:47At age 9, Jacob was diagnosed with a mood disorder.
04:53Doctors tried drug after drug.
04:56Stimulants, antidepressants, and antipsychotics.
05:00By age 10, he had been given eight different medications.
05:04It all started to feel out of control.
05:07So we decided that we wanted to just strip him off of everything.
05:10We have no idea how we got on as many meds as he was on.
05:14So we just made a decision.
05:16We got to pull it back.
05:17We got to sort of strip it out and see what we actually have here.
05:20Jacob was hospitalized and taken off all his medication.
05:26But he was about to be given what was, at the time,
05:30a new and controversial diagnosis for a child.
05:34Bipolar disorder.
05:36They stripped him down off of everything.
05:38And then within 24 hours, they turned around and said,
05:40he's bipolar, needs to take lithium.
05:44There was no, like, well, isn't there therapy?
05:46Nobody, nowhere we ever turned was there this therapeutic,
05:51you know, was this therapeutic solution.
05:53There was nobody ever said, well, we can work with this
05:55and through therapy and things like that.
05:57Everywhere we looked, it was take meds, take meds, take meds.
06:03Then suddenly, on the morning of his 13th birthday,
06:06Jacob woke up with a stiff neck and started rolling his head,
06:11a possible side effect of all the medication he'd been taking.
06:16Most of these doctors were experimenting.
06:19They had no clue.
06:20And were just saying, try this, try this.
06:27There's nothing worse than seeing your kid, you know,
06:29go through something like this.
06:31Over the last 10 years, there's been a steep rise
06:40in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood mental illnesses
06:43of all types.
06:45ADHD, depression, autism, and anxiety disorders.
06:51But the biggest controversy has been in the diagnosis of bipolar.
06:55Formerly called manic depression, it was long believed to exist only in adults.
07:03The diagnosis of childhood bipolar grew out of a series of studies
07:07by a group of child psychiatrists at Massachusetts General Hospital,
07:11led by Dr. Joseph Biederman.
07:15He theorized that many children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
07:19were actually misdiagnosed.
07:23In 1996, an article is published that announced
07:27that 23% of his ADHD population also meet criteria for bipolar disorder.
07:34Okay.
07:35This was an astonishing announcement that caught most of us quite by surprise,
07:42because the notion that even a teenager be diagnosed bipolar
07:46was very, very rare.
07:47What he did was he took the written criteria for attention deficit disorder
07:53and he took the written criteria for bipolar disorder.
07:58And he said, hey, a lot of these kids that you call ADHD
08:02actually fit the criteria for bipolar disorder,
08:07which I think attracted a whole lot of people.
08:10And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere,
08:12bipolar disorder suddenly was being diagnosed left, right, and center.
08:15Our big story at six, dramatic increase in the number of kids diagnosed as bipolar.
08:25Since Dr. Biederman and his colleagues published their findings,
08:29there has been a 4,000% increase in the number of children diagnosed with bipolar.
08:34The question is, should we call them bipolar,
08:37and should we be giving them three different medicines when they're only two years old?
08:41And I can tell you, that's happening all over the place when they're two years old?
08:44The rates of bipolar diagnoses in children have increased markedly in many communities
08:52over the last five to seven years.
08:56I think the real question is, are those diagnoses right?
09:00What you've got out there is a whole lot of kids who've been diagnosed with a condition
09:13that hasn't really attained respectability yet,
09:17and they're receiving medications that have not been fully tested in children.
09:21Today, there are one million kids being treated for bipolar,
09:27more and more of them at younger and younger ages.
09:30This is D.J. Kuntz.
09:43He's four years old.
09:46His doctor believes he's bipolar.
09:49Why don't you come take your medicine?
09:52I'm going to check these.
09:54D.J. takes focalin extended release in the morning,
09:57a dose of focalin in the afternoon,
10:01clonidine to sleep at night,
10:04and Risperdall to quiet his tantrums.
10:08Bipolar in adults has traditionally been treated with drugs like lithium.
10:13Now, there are new antipsychotic drugs called atypicals.
10:19It's a little worrisome to me because he is so young.
10:22You know, I don't know what the long-term side effects are going to be for him.
10:28I do know if he didn't take it, though,
10:31I don't know if we could function as a family.
10:34It's almost a do-or-die situation over here.
10:40One of the drugs D.J. is taking, Risperdall,
10:44is an antipsychotic, commonly used on bipolar kids.
10:49It's known to cause tics, drooling, and incessant eating.
10:54He's just insatiable, hungry all the time.
10:57So whatever you put in front of him,
10:59he'll eat and he'll just, he'll want to keep going and going and going.
11:02Their stomach never tells their brain that it's full.
11:05So he could be stuffed,
11:07and he'll still want to eat because he thinks he's hungry.
11:10I'm going to eat, like, goldfish.
11:14Goldfish and cookie?
11:15Yeah, and Gatorade.
11:17And Gatorade.
11:18And another Gatorade.
11:20And another Gatorade.
11:21And another corn dog.
11:23Some kids gain up to 100 pounds on antipsychotics
11:26and go on to develop diabetes.
11:29Christina says that despite the risks,
11:31they had no other choice.
11:33Kaya, come here. Treat, treat.
11:35He loses total control,
11:38and it's scary.
11:41He's had rages that'll go half the day.
11:45He'll even sit on the floor and howl
11:48or make almost animalistic noises.
11:52And hit himself.
11:53Hit himself, hit his head on the wall.
11:55He'll go after anyone that's around him.
11:58I have hot medicine.
12:01I have hot medicine.
12:03I have hot medicine.
12:05There are also more unusual, repetitive behaviors
12:10that DJ's drugs haven't changed.
12:13Medicine.
12:14I have hot medicine.
12:16I just have hot medicine.
12:19Hot medicine.
12:20Hot medicine?
12:22Yeah.
12:25Christina says life with DJ is still a roller coaster.
12:29When the medications wear off,
12:32his old behavior returns.
12:40DJ!
12:42Stop!
12:44Stop!
12:49DJ, we can go see Dr. Bacon.
12:52What do we go to Dr. Bacon for?
12:56It's this one.
12:58Good job.
13:03Hey, guys.
13:04How are you, Dr. Bacon?
13:05Hi, Dr. Bacon.
13:07Dr. Patrick Bacon has been treating DJ's older brother,
13:11Michael, for ADHD.
13:13He started seeing DJ nine months ago.
13:16You're going to break it, please.
13:18So how have things been going?
13:20Better.
13:21Better?
13:21Better than our last visit, yeah.
13:23With the increase in Risperdal?
13:25And the extrafocoin in the afternoon.
13:28Uh-huh.
13:29Because there are no definitive tests for any psychiatric illnesses,
13:33Dr. Bacon chooses DJ's medicine before he knows the diagnosis.
13:39How do you decide what medication to give a child?
13:42The things that influence what medication to give would involve, you know,
13:47my best guess about what is the diagnosis
13:50and largely what has been tried in children that age.
13:56The Risperdal seems to be quieting the tantrums or the rages more.
14:00But with so many drugs on the market,
14:02getting the right treatment can take a long time.
14:06Twenty years ago, there were only a couple medications to choose from.
14:11So now we have more mood stabilizers.
14:13We have atypical antipsychotics that work pretty good for mood disorders.
14:18And it's made it easier to think,
14:21well, this symptom might respond to that, so let's try it.
14:24The first time we gave it to him, it was like switching a, you know,
14:27like turning the light switch off, you know, like he completely...
14:31You have to experiment or let them continue to be symptomatic.
14:37You called it an experiment.
14:40It really is, to some extent, an experiment,
14:45trying medications in these children of this age.
14:49It's a gamble.
14:52And I tell parents, there's no way to know what's going to work.
14:55I get my back in the school.
14:58I get back in the school.
15:00An option would be we could go higher still on the Risperdal
15:03and see if that would just slow him down more
15:05or look at a more typical mood stabilizer.
15:11On this day, Dr. Bacon is reluctant to up the dose of Risperdal
15:15because of the risk that DJ will develop tics.
15:18We have to just sort of...
15:20Instead, he adds a fourth prescription for Trileptal,
15:24a powerful mood stabilizer used to treat bipolar.
15:28All right, and of course, if there's a problem right away with a Trileptal,
15:32like he sleeps all day long or, you know, it makes him real nauseous
15:36and what have you, give me a call right away.
15:39Okay.
15:39Say thank you.
15:41Say bye, Dr. Bacon.
15:42Bye.
15:42Nice to see you.
15:43Bye.
15:44Bye, Dr. Bacon.
15:45Bye, Dr. Bacon.
15:46Good afternoon.
15:47You too.
15:47Bye.
15:47Many child psychiatrists believe it is impossible
15:53to diagnose bipolar in a four-year-old.
15:56There remains widespread confusion in the field.
16:01In the Manual for Diagnosing Mental Illness, the DSM,
16:05adult bipolar is clearly defined
16:07by recurring episodes of mania and depression.
16:11The manual says nothing about how to diagnose bipolar in kids,
16:15but Dr. Joseph Biedermann and his colleagues argue that rapid mood swings,
16:21tantrums, and what's called explosive irritability
16:24are the key symptoms of childhood bipolar.
16:27The criteria for mood disorder in children include something called irritability,
16:34but the symptom like irritability occurs in something like 26 different diagnoses.
16:40So it probably means very different things in different contexts and to different people.
16:44I think a lot of the controversy has centered around the fact that our kids who have big temper tantrums,
16:50you know, a nine-year-old with a big temper tantrum who can't control himself,
16:53this happens a few times a week, is that coming from bipolar disorder?
16:57All right, any other thing you want to talk to me about?
17:01Dr. Kiki Chang, a researcher at Stanford University, defends Biedermann's criteria.
17:06So, wait, the new youth group, that's, uh, tell me about that.
17:09When you take irritability to the extent that some of these children exhibit it,
17:14and then when you add the other manic symptoms in there,
17:17decreased need for sleep, increased goal-directed activity, racing thoughts,
17:21all those things together, you're at least somewhere on the spectrum.
17:24But critics say all the debate and confusion has led to over-diagnosis.
17:31And many children with bipolar are being treated by pediatricians and family doctors
17:36who are less familiar with the diagnosis.
17:40When you're a pediatrician and you're seeing a child every 15 minutes,
17:44it's very tempting to go ahead and add one of the atypical antipsychotics
17:48when you've got a kid who's oppositional and aggressive.
17:51So, in a sense, the doctors and the patients and their parents
17:53are forced into this Faustian bargain
17:55where everybody would like to take the time to think through the problem.
17:59But that kind of thoughtful, careful evaluation
18:03simply doesn't exist in most pediatrician or family doctors' office.
18:09Three years ago, Jacob Solomon's family moved from Los Angeles
18:13to the mountains above Denver.
18:15Tell me when you want to set this up.
18:17You want to do that now?
18:20Jacob is now 16.
18:23Okay, we'll open these first.
18:25He remains on a potent mix of medicines.
18:28And he still rolls his head.
18:31Risperdal is for anxiety and moods.
18:36We've tried different combinations
18:38and found that this seems to be the best combination for him right now.
18:44Every time he has a growth spurt, it changes.
18:48And which one is this?
18:49So, I haven't seen you in about a month, right?
18:52I don't know.
18:53I think so.
18:54So, how are you doing with the nervousness right now?
18:57I'm good.
18:58You're okay?
18:59I have a lot of things on my mind,
19:01like what am I going to do when I go back to school?
19:04What classes am I going to have?
19:05Dr. Marion Wambolt is Chief of Psychiatry
19:08at Denver Children's Hospital.
19:11So, that's better?
19:12She says Jacob is one of a growing number of kids
19:15who come to her with a bipolar diagnosis
19:17and multiple prescriptions.
19:19What are you doing differently?
19:21Jake came to me on about eight or nine medications,
19:24some of which I had never heard about being used
19:27for the purported purposes that they were being used for.
19:30So, when I first saw him, my initial take was
19:35there's too much over-pathologizing of symptoms
19:40and over-calling them symptoms that need a medication
19:44rather than thinking about other ways
19:46to deal with the symptoms.
19:47And the family was very open to that,
19:49and they really wanted to get him off
19:52of as many medications as they could.
19:54So, Jake, how could we measure your tics?
19:57Right now, there are about maybe four.
20:01What does that mean?
20:02Four?
20:02One, two, ten.
20:03One's like the best it could be.
20:07Ten's the worst it could be.
20:08I know that's about a four.
20:09It's getting better 20 times a million.
20:11Sometimes tics are a side effect of stimulants.
20:14Often, when you stop the stimulants, the tics go away.
20:17In Jake's case, they didn't go away.
20:19It's a tricky thing because we're dealing
20:24with developing minds and brains.
20:27Medications have a whole different impact
20:29in the young developing child than they do in an adult,
20:32and we don't understand that impact very well.
20:34That's where we're still in the dark ages.
20:38One of the few places that specializes
20:40in childhood bipolar is at the University
20:43of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
20:44The doctors here say that many of the kids
20:48referred to the clinic come in misdiagnosed
20:51with a slew of labels.
20:54Maybe new cases, then, or new referrals, Tim?
20:57Yeah, I have two.
20:58One is a nine-year-old.
21:00She's going into the fourth grade
21:01and has a past diagnosis of bipolar II,
21:05ADHD, ODD, OCD.
21:08They say it can take months or even years
21:11to untangle a case and decide whether a kid
21:14is bipolar or not.
21:16Irritability, increased sleep, tearfulness,
21:18some anhedonia.
21:20One thing that's complicated is bipolar disorder
21:23is probably not a single unitary disorder.
21:26It's probably a syndrome that's a collection
21:28of things that are related and can overlap
21:31with other child psychiatric illnesses,
21:34including ADHD, including depression.
21:37She said these episodes can last like one to two days.
21:39There is a risk of this being something
21:42that is a label that's given inappropriately,
21:46so we have to be very careful and cautious
21:48about diagnosing a child with this illness.
21:50...right now, but she has verbalized
21:52some suicidal ideations.
21:54Okay, she sounds like a good kid for us to see.
21:57We're barely getting started at figuring out
22:00what might be wrong in these kids' brains.
22:03You know, the brain is extremely complicated,
22:05and it's going to take us a long time
22:08to figure out these problems.
22:10And I wanted that.
22:12You would have what?
22:13Dr. David Axelson believes it is a rare case
22:16that is clear-cut.
22:18Why? Well, how come you wanted to bust your head open?
22:20Because I wanted to...
22:21But in September of 2000,
22:23he was referred a five-year-old patient, Jessica.
22:26Okay.
22:27Now, when you were at Walmart,
22:28was this sort of a normal kind of happy feeling,
22:31or was it kind of different than just having fun?
22:35She arrived at his office
22:36displaying textbook symptoms of adult bipolar,
22:39including grandiosity and euphoria.
22:41And I was trying to...
22:43Dr. Axelson was so intrigued
22:44that he videotaped the session.
22:46What?
22:47Trying to fool those, too.
22:48You were trying to fool them?
22:50Uh-huh.
22:51What were you trying to do to fool them?
22:53I was trying to take their head away to fool them.
22:56Trying to take their what?
22:58Their head away.
22:59Trying to take their head away.
23:01How could you do that?
23:03I can just get a knife and go...
23:06Really?
23:09And you wanted to do that to your folks?
23:13I don't know.
23:14Interesting thing about Jessica
23:15is she did really present in the office with symptoms.
23:19A great deal of aggression and morbid thoughts
23:23and grandiose thinking that she could do anything.
23:28Just jumping off of everything,
23:30and climbing on everything.
23:31Yeah!
23:33In addition, she had a very clear
23:34two- to three-week period of depression.
23:37You know, she was not caring for herself,
23:39not getting out of bed.
23:41She was just sort of staring at the wall.
23:42She didn't want to eat.
23:43She didn't want to do anything.
23:44Uh-huh.
23:45She wasn't angry anymore.
23:46She just wanted to curl up in a ball
23:47and have the TV on and not move.
23:49Okay.
23:50And...
23:51Jessica was diagnosed with bipolar I,
23:53the classic form of the disorder.
23:56Its hallmark symptom?
23:58Expansive, grandiose thinking.
24:00I could even lift them up
24:02and put them on the roof
24:03and bust their head open.
24:04I see.
24:05Okay.
24:06Lots of talk about busting heads open, huh?
24:09Hmm.
24:09Jessica is now 12 years old.
24:19Dr. Axelson still believes
24:21she's a clear-cut case of bipolar.
24:26And how would you say your mood has been
24:28over the past few weeks?
24:29Hmm.
24:30Pretty good.
24:31Mm-hmm.
24:32I cry and scream a lot, though.
24:34You do.
24:35And that's kind of a change
24:36compared to a few months back,
24:38I would say.
24:39Has something been bothering you,
24:40do you think, in particular?
24:42Or has something been on your mind
24:43or worrying you?
24:45Mm-mm.
24:46Okay.
24:47This girl at school,
24:49and I'm worried about
24:50what she's going to say
24:51when I go back to school
24:52and what she's going to do
24:53because she's really mean.
24:54Mm-hmm.
24:55On top of Jessica's worries about school,
24:58Jessica's dad has just been deployed to Iraq.
25:01Does it make you sad thinking about it?
25:03That's totally normal.
25:06Oh, okay.
25:07There you go.
25:09It's okay to be sad.
25:11In the midst of all this,
25:13Dr. Axelson has to sort out
25:15what are normal childhood stresses
25:16and what are the actual symptoms
25:18of bipolar disorder that need medication.
25:22You know, there's no scientific answer here
25:24about what to do.
25:25Well, I think we should try to go up
25:28a little bit on the medicine.
25:30This is definitely more than just
25:32her usual reaction to the stress,
25:35and we don't want to go into school
25:38with things being pretty rocky.
25:40Okay.
25:41Okay.
25:42Does that sound like a plan?
25:43All right.
25:44Okay.
25:44Okay.
25:44Some people just don't understand it.
25:51I have bipolar.
25:53It's kind of hard,
25:54but as long as I'm taking medication,
25:57then I'll be fine.
25:58It's the only way to keep me settled down.
26:00Taking my medication makes me more calmer,
26:08more like I'm supposed to be.
26:10We're talking about putting a small child
26:18on these heavy medications.
26:23$1.75.
26:26She can't go a day without medication.
26:29It's a big burden for her.
26:32She may not feel it now,
26:34but I feel it for her.
26:37And I wish she didn't have to do any of it.
26:46I guess we better go over to the truck and...
26:49If you ask me,
26:49what is the greatest challenge
26:51facing American child psychiatry right now,
26:55it's in the area of bipolar illness.
26:57How should we treat it?
26:58We have to know the answer to that question.
27:01Are the treatments that we use
27:02safe for the brain or deleterious?
27:06And the tragedy is not that
27:08this question is being asked.
27:10The question is that we're not generating the data
27:12which will give us the answer.
27:14Virtually all of the drugs approved
27:16by the Food and Drug Administration
27:17are tested solely on adults.
27:19That leaves pediatricians mostly guessing,
27:21says Danny Benjamin.
27:22In Washington,
27:23officials at the Food and Drug Administration
27:25have been aware for years
27:27of the lack of research.
27:29But I don't believe they work.
27:30There were not only few studies
27:32on psychiatric medications
27:34prescribed to children,
27:35but on all childhood medicines
27:37from cough syrup to eardrops.
27:43Parents need to be aware
27:45that all products
27:46haven't been studied in children.
27:49As a matter of fact,
27:50I'd say too high a percentage of the time
27:53we don't know what we're doing
27:54and we need to study it in kids
27:56and get the dosing right
27:57and know whether it works in them.
28:00But drug makers have long been reluctant
28:02to run clinical trials on children.
28:05For a number of reasons,
28:06it was difficult to get companies
28:09to do studies in children.
28:10People are always nervous
28:11when they do studies in children.
28:13There's reluctance sometimes
28:15to leave them untreated
28:16and use a placebo.
28:17But with one thing and another,
28:19there were very, very few studies in children.
28:21The rule I announce today
28:22will put an end to this guesswork.
28:24It will require manufacturers
28:25of all medicines needed by children
28:27to study the drug's effects on children.
28:31Then in 1997,
28:32the Clinton administration
28:34offered the pharmaceutical industry
28:36lucrative patent extensions
28:37as an incentive.
28:40The incentive is very powerful
28:43for a drug company.
28:44If they do the pediatric studies
28:46that we ask them to do,
28:48if they do them
28:49and do them with integrity,
28:51they get six months
28:53of additional exclusivity.
28:55That means protection
28:56against a generic drug.
28:58Well, for a drug that sells a lot,
29:00like most antidepressants
29:01or something like that,
29:02that's worth a lot.
29:05A single extension
29:06can be worth
29:07more than a billion dollars.
29:09As a result,
29:10the pharmaceutical companies
29:12have launched
29:12over 200 studies
29:14of childhood medicines.
29:18As the research has come in,
29:19it's become clear
29:21that many of the drugs
29:22that work in adults
29:23do not work well
29:24or at all in children.
29:30Dr. Andrew Leon
29:31of Cornell University
29:32was asked by the FDA
29:34to review the data
29:35on antidepressant drugs
29:37like Paxil and Effexor.
29:39I have to say,
29:41I was rather alarmed.
29:43I'd never seen
29:44how few of those trials
29:46had been positive,
29:47had shown
29:48that the antidepressants
29:50were more effective
29:51than placebo in kids.
29:55The clinical lore
29:56would have you believe
29:57that these antidepressants
29:59were very effective in kids,
30:01but the data
30:01didn't support that.
30:04Children are not
30:05just young adults.
30:07they reacted to medication
30:09in a different way.
30:11They can be more sensitive
30:13to certain side effects
30:14of medication.
30:15Sometimes medication
30:16don't work in children.
30:17So it's not right,
30:19it is not safe
30:20to take the information
30:22that we know in adults
30:23and try to apply them
30:24to children.
30:25The antidepressants
30:26not only failed to work,
30:29some children
30:29had serious reactions.
30:33My daughter, Cecily,
30:35had only been taking Paxil
30:36for two weeks
30:37before she died.
30:39In 2004,
30:40the FDA held
30:41several public hearings.
30:43Let's start to wrap up.
30:44My 16-year-old stepson,
30:45Brandon Ferris,
30:47committed suicide
30:47on July 22, 2001,
30:50about three weeks
30:51after he began
30:52taking Zoloft.
30:53The FDA concluded
30:54that 4% of kids
30:56had an increased risk
30:57of becoming suicidal.
30:59She died of suicide
31:00at age 12 years,
31:01three months,
31:02just eight weeks
31:03after being put
31:04on Paxil
31:04and then Zoloft.
31:06The FDA's
31:07strongest warning,
31:08a black box,
31:09was put into effect.
31:11It made big news.
31:13The federal government
31:14today moved
31:15to warn parents...
31:16The reports
31:17alarmed doctors
31:18and their patients.
31:19...intended to improve...
31:20They can sometimes trigger
31:22suicidal behavior
31:23in children and teenagers.
31:25The label would be required...
31:26If the black box warning
31:28led to a more attentive
31:31use of this medication,
31:33more attention to diagnosis,
31:35more attention to side effects,
31:37better monitoring
31:38during treatment,
31:39that was a good thing.
31:41If it discouraged treatment
31:43of people who needed that,
31:45of course,
31:46was a bad thing.
31:47It did discourage some.
31:50Since concerns
31:51were first raised,
31:52prescription rates
31:53for antidepressants
31:54declined,
31:55and the suicide rate
31:57jumped,
31:58leading many psychiatrists
32:00to fear that kids
32:01who needed antidepressants
32:02were no longer
32:03getting them.
32:05How did you feel
32:06about the black box label
32:08being put on antidepressants?
32:10Did it seem like
32:11a good idea?
32:12Remember,
32:13the black box
32:13was never intended
32:14to say,
32:15don't use these drugs
32:16in children.
32:16It didn't say that.
32:18We recognized
32:19that some people
32:20might read the black box
32:21and be scared off
32:22and not treat people.
32:23We were conscious
32:24of the fact that
32:26by most studies,
32:27the rate of adolescent suicide
32:30appeared to be declining
32:31as these drugs
32:32had come along.
32:33We were nervous about that,
32:35but we felt
32:35we had to tell people anyway.
32:40The black box warning
32:42appears to have had
32:43another unintended consequence.
32:45In the confusion
32:47over the safety
32:48of antidepressants
32:49for kids,
32:50some doctors
32:51turned to antipsychotic
32:52medications
32:53to treat depression.
32:55We are seeing
32:56an increase
32:57in the use
32:58of atypical antipsychotics,
33:00especially in children.
33:01And one thought
33:02is that those
33:03are being used
33:03in place of
33:04the antidepressants.
33:06In a sense,
33:07what we've done
33:08is we've taken
33:09a drug
33:10that has very limited risk
33:11and replaced
33:13these drugs
33:14often with
33:15a class of drugs
33:16that have
33:17unknown efficacy
33:18but quite well-known risks.
33:20And I'm not sure
33:21that that's progress.
33:23The end result
33:24is that a very
33:25well-studied medication
33:27has a black box warning
33:29that is very severe.
33:32Again,
33:32you're right.
33:32And that the very
33:33dangerous drugs
33:34out there
33:34like atypicals
33:36that are being used
33:36in kids
33:37don't have this
33:38black box warning.
33:39That strikes me
33:40as ironic.
33:41The atypicals
33:45have a very
33:45strong warning
33:46against something
33:47we know
33:47they shouldn't
33:48be used for
33:49which is
33:50demented elderly
33:51people.
33:53But our trouble
33:54is when you have
33:55fundamentally
33:56an absence of data
33:58which is largely
33:59the case for children
34:00it's hard
34:01to write a box.
34:02But you're in the FDA.
34:03People look at you
34:04to sort of figure out
34:06what is the right
34:07thing to do
34:08for my child.
34:09But when there's
34:11no data
34:11we can't tell them.
34:15Naomi on the front.
34:16My daughter passed
34:17away in the night.
34:18What's going on?
34:19How old is she?
34:19My daughter passed
34:20away.
34:20How old?
34:21She's four.
34:22All right.
34:22We'll be right there.
34:26The danger of
34:27prescribing
34:28untested drugs
34:29to young children
34:30grabbed national
34:31attention a year ago.
34:34Rebecca Riley
34:34of Hull, Massachusetts
34:36had been diagnosed
34:37with bipolar
34:37and was taking
34:39a mixture
34:39of psychiatric
34:40medications.
34:48Frontline was
34:48visiting the
34:49Kuntz family
34:50when they learned
34:50of the case.
34:52We went to talk
34:53to one of the
34:53leading proponents
34:54of the diagnosis
34:55of bipolar disorder
34:56in children.
34:57He is Dr.
34:58Joseph Biederman.
34:59Now you're saying
35:00up to a million
35:01children are running
35:02around with this.
35:04Correct.
35:04The autopsy revealed
35:06that she had died
35:07from an overdose
35:08of psychiatric drugs.
35:10The Kuntzes worried
35:11that DJ was on
35:12a similar regimen
35:13of psychiatric drugs,
35:15including the sedative
35:16clonidine.
35:19Terrified me.
35:22Especially to hear
35:22that there was enough
35:23clonidine in her system
35:24alone to kill her.
35:27This is what her
35:28preschool teacher said.
35:29She was like a floppy doll,
35:31so tired she had to be
35:33helped off the bus.
35:34I mean, to think
35:34that there's something
35:35on my counter
35:36that he takes
35:37on a daily basis
35:38that the little girl
35:43had so much
35:43in her system
35:44that that alone
35:45could have been
35:45the cause of her death
35:46terrified me.
35:48I mean, neither one
35:49of us are supporters
35:50of medicating our kids.
35:52You know, that's
35:53not why we do this.
35:55We do it because
35:56we've discussed it
35:57with the doctor
35:58and it seems to work.
36:03The Koontz's went back
36:04to Dr. Bacon's office
36:05to see if they could
36:07lower DJ's medications.
36:11So how are you guys doing?
36:13Good.
36:15Have things been going
36:16pretty well?
36:16Yeah.
36:17Good.
36:18I watched 60 Minutes
36:20and it made me think
36:21and wonder,
36:21is there anything
36:22not medication-related
36:24that we need to be doing
36:25for DJ?
36:26I mean, is there any type
36:27of classes?
36:29Is he too young
36:29for therapy?
36:30I mean, would any of that
36:31benefit him along
36:32with that medication?
36:34At this point,
36:35I think it's like
36:3699% medication.
36:39Plus, it's harder
36:40for him to make use
36:41of therapy
36:42and to make use
36:43of any behavioral program
36:44if he's still got
36:46a lot of symptoms
36:46that he really can't control
36:48even if he tried.
36:49Okay.
36:50I just want to make sure
36:51that we're doing
36:51absolutely everything
36:52that we possibly can
36:54for him.
36:55How are things
36:57going for him
36:58in school?
36:59He likes it
37:00once he gets there.
37:01The anxiety getting there
37:02is a two-hour battle
37:04of crying.
37:06Please don't make me
37:07go to school.
37:07Let me stay home.
37:09But as soon as
37:10we walk in the door,
37:11he hangs his backpack up
37:12and he's fine
37:13the rest of the day.
37:14Okay.
37:16Sometimes,
37:17also what we'll do
37:19is try just a little bit
37:20of an anti-anxiety medication
37:22like in the morning.
37:23something like Xanax.
37:26And again,
37:27it's a trade-off.
37:28You know,
37:29do you want to
37:30see if that will work
37:31or do you want to
37:32try and coax him into it?
37:35Do you want to try
37:35and suffer through
37:36for a little bit longer
37:36before we add another one?
37:38Yeah.
37:38Once he gets there,
37:39he's okay.
37:39And my hope would be
37:41as we go up
37:41on the trileptal,
37:43that anxiety will go down
37:44quite a bit.
37:45And I've seen that happen.
37:46But let me write
37:48to that prescription
37:49for the focal one
37:51and then we'll
37:52go from there.
37:56DJ left Dr. Bacon's office
37:58with a recommendation
37:59to up his dose
38:00of trileptal.
38:03This is my distinct pleasure
38:05this morning
38:06to introduce
38:07Dr. Joseph Biederman.
38:09Thank you very much.
38:11Many psychiatrists
38:15continue to follow
38:16the lead of Dr. Biederman.
38:18Frontline wanted
38:19to speak to him,
38:20but he has stopped
38:21talking to the media.
38:23We published a paper
38:24in the American Journal
38:25of Psychiatry
38:26examining ADHD
38:27without bipolar disease.
38:30His office
38:30recommended that we speak
38:32instead to Dr. Chang
38:33at Stanford.
38:36I'm really excited
38:37about medications.
38:38People are so concerned
38:39about the side effects
38:40that they have on children.
38:41but one thing
38:42that people often overlook
38:43are the possible
38:44beneficial side effects,
38:45if you will.
38:49Dr. Chang himself
38:50has lately been pushing
38:51one of the more
38:52provocative ideas
38:53in child psychiatry.
38:55How about the thoughts
38:57in your head
38:57and things like that?
38:58They raced through
38:59so fast
39:01I can't even think of it.
39:02He believes
39:02he can prevent
39:03bipolar disorder
39:04by identifying
39:06and medicating
39:07children at risk
39:08before they develop
39:09full-blown symptoms.
39:11It depends on the day.
39:12Sometimes it can take
39:13three hours.
39:15Sometimes it can just
39:16be half an hour.
39:17And the theory is that
39:18if you get in early
39:19before the first
39:21full-mood episode,
39:22before too much
39:22has kindled in the brain,
39:24then perhaps we could
39:26delay the onset
39:27to full mania.
39:27You used to.
39:29And if that's the case,
39:30perhaps finding
39:32the right medication
39:33early on
39:33can protect the brain
39:35so that these children
39:36never do progress
39:37to full bipolar disorder.
39:39Go ahead and talk to me.
39:40What's going on?
39:41Bipolar is known
39:42to run in families.
39:43In order to identify
39:44these kids early on,
39:46Dr. Chang is relying
39:47on MRIs.
39:49We're going to get
39:49started now.
39:50All right,
39:50squeeze the ball
39:50if you're ready.
39:54All right, great.
39:56He's zeroed in
39:57on a cluster of neurons
39:58located deep within
39:59the brain
40:00called the amygdala.
40:01The amygdala is thought
40:04to store a person's
40:05emotional memory.
40:07What we've been finding
40:08is that
40:09in kids with bipolar disorder,
40:12these amygdala
40:12are significantly decreased
40:14in volume
40:14compared to healthy kids.
40:16They're smaller.
40:17It doesn't mean yet
40:18that we can use it
40:19to diagnose bipolar,
40:20but it gives us
40:21a pretty good head start
40:23in saying,
40:23okay, you know what?
40:24This is a very important region.
40:25Why is it smaller?
40:26Let's find out.
40:27Let's investigate it further.
40:28Dr. Chang is also
40:32researching how the brain
40:33responds to
40:34antipsychotic medications.
40:36The use of atypical
40:37antipsychotics
40:38in pediatric bipolar disorder.
40:40At this year's
40:41annual convention
40:42of child psychiatrists,
40:43he presented the results
40:45of three new studies
40:46on antipsychotics.
40:47This is a very exciting area.
40:48Dr. Chang says
40:49the early results
40:50are encouraging.
40:52Five years ago,
40:53we would have
40:53practically no data
40:54to give you.
40:55We now have
40:56reliable,
40:57large-scale trials
40:58to be able to present
40:59to you,
40:59and some of these
41:00are hot off the bat.
41:00But critics point out
41:01that researchers
41:02who advocate the use
41:03of psychiatric medications,
41:05like Chang and Biederman,
41:07receive enormous support
41:08from drug companies,
41:10and they believe
41:11that these industry-funded studies
41:13unduly influence
41:15doctors' decisions.
41:16They have these
41:16very robust response rates.
41:19Whenever research
41:20is funded by industry,
41:22unfortunately,
41:22the research is always
41:23going to be suspect,
41:25and there's no question
41:26that from the standpoint
41:27of any psychiatrist
41:28looking around
41:29at the courses
41:31that are being offered,
41:32going to the large meetings,
41:34reading the journals,
41:35that just about everything
41:36bears the stamp
41:37of drug industry funding
41:39and drug industry influence.
41:42And it is really
41:43one field
41:44where it's extremely hard
41:46to know who you can trust
41:48and who you can't trust.
41:49Very exciting,
41:50as well as our disclosures.
41:51And as you can see here,
41:53I have various relationships
41:54with these companies.
41:55I think it is
41:57an uneasy partnership.
41:58But I think that
42:00without them,
42:00where would we be now?
42:01We wouldn't have
42:01any of these studies now.
42:04And yet you call it
42:05an uneasy relationship.
42:08It is uneasy
42:09because there is
42:11still that potential
42:12conflict of interest
42:13and definitely
42:13that perceived conflict.
42:14Even if there isn't
42:15a conflict of interest,
42:16meaning that,
42:17hey, we're going to do
42:18our own studies ethically,
42:19and we do.
42:20But somebody reading
42:22the study may say,
42:23oh, they received funding
42:24from this pharmaceutical company
42:25to do the study.
42:26Therefore, the results
42:27may be biased.
42:28So that is a problem.
42:31Meanwhile,
42:31as Dr. Chang continues
42:33to pursue answers,
42:35others are already
42:36claiming to have solutions.
42:37A little bit down
42:38toward your feet.
42:40This is Matthew Dietrich.
42:42His parents are concerned
42:44about his moodiness.
42:45For nearly $3,000,
42:52this diagnostic center
42:54claims that it can identify
42:55undiagnosed conditions
42:57and help determine
42:58the best medication.
43:01But this machine
43:02is not like Dr. Chang's.
43:04It only measures
43:05blood flow patterns
43:06in the brain.
43:07And it's located
43:08on a commercial strip
43:09in Denver
43:10at a company called
43:11Brain Matters.
43:15So now what we're going to do
43:16is talk about
43:17the results
43:17from your brain scan.
43:19Okay?
43:20Are you excited?
43:21Are you nervous?
43:23No.
43:23No?
43:24You're not nervous at all?
43:25Good.
43:26So this is called
43:27the transverse view.
43:28At Brain Matters,
43:29they believe their doctors
43:30can link blood flow changes
43:32to behavior problems.
43:36Matthew's results
43:37are explained
43:37by Nancy Goodhue,
43:39a social worker.
43:41Deep in your brain, Matthew,
43:43in the middle,
43:44middle part of your brain
43:44is called
43:45the thalamolimbic area
43:46and that's where
43:47your emotions live.
43:48So this area here,
43:50the thalamolimbic area,
43:51should be yellow
43:51and light brown
43:52and for you it's red
43:53and white
43:53and a little bit black.
43:55Okay?
43:56So this is something
43:57that because of the pattern,
43:58it's suggesting to our doctor
44:00that Matthew might have
44:01some trouble with mood.
44:03So the recommendation
44:03is for some medicine
44:05that actually stabilizes the mood.
44:08The family is impressed.
44:09I know Matthew's
44:09never been on medication
44:10before.
44:11I think they've done
44:11a great job
44:12explaining what the results are.
44:14I don't really understand
44:15the medical terms
44:17that are being used
44:18but I think it's
44:20pretty much on target.
44:22And so we really have
44:23an opportunity
44:24to influence his brain
44:25between now
44:26and the time he's 25.
44:27He's 11 right now.
44:29Do you think
44:29that it's raising
44:30false expectations?
44:32You know,
44:33I really hope not.
44:35I think compared
44:35to the interview,
44:37the diagnostic interview
44:37and the paper and pencil test
44:39that we've had so far,
44:40this is just so far
44:42and away better.
44:43Even though it's
44:44not conclusive,
44:45it's much, much better
44:46than what we've had
44:47historically.
44:49So these little
44:50yellow areas here
44:52on the other side...
44:52We all want a simple,
44:53easy solution
44:55for these complicated
44:56life problems.
44:58My view,
44:59to put it very simply,
45:00is if it's too good
45:00to be true,
45:02it is, in fact,
45:03unfortunately,
45:03too good to be true.
45:05We're at least
45:06five to ten years,
45:07if not more,
45:08off from that being
45:09a really reliable
45:10clinical tool.
45:11Right now,
45:12it's strictly
45:12a research tool.
45:15But Brain Matters
45:17has already reached millions,
45:19now with centers
45:20in Los Angeles
45:21and Seattle,
45:22and has been featured
45:23twice on Dr. Phil.
45:26We can see
45:27the bipolar pattern
45:28much earlier
45:29in someone's brain.
45:31Meaning those areas
45:32on the top of Fred's head
45:34do not receive
45:35the right blood flow.
45:36Brain Matters
45:37is just one example.
45:39There is now
45:40a cottage industry
45:41of diagnostic centers,
45:43self-help books,
45:44internet sites,
45:45and nutritional regimens
45:46profiting from parents'
45:48desperate search
45:49for solutions.
45:51All right,
45:52can we do that?
45:53Yep,
45:53so we can do that.
45:53Are you down with that?
45:55Yes.
45:58In 2001,
45:59when Frontline
46:00first reported
46:01on medicating children,
46:02the chief of ADHD research
46:05at the National Institute
46:06of Mental Health
46:07was Dr. Javier Castellanos.
46:10He acknowledged then
46:11that brain science
46:12was in its infancy.
46:14The brain is the most
46:15complex thing we know,
46:17changing,
46:18rewiring itself.
46:20And so what we measure
46:21are very crude,
46:24preliminary things,
46:25but we've only been at it
46:26for about 10 or 12 years.
46:28We don't yet have our Einstein.
46:29than about a year ago...
46:33Dr. Castellanos
46:34is now the director
46:35of research
46:35at the Child Study Center
46:37at NYU.
46:39We went back to see him
46:40to ask if there was
46:41a solution
46:42to the lack of knowledge
46:43about today's
46:44psychiatric medications.
46:45I desperately need to know
46:48personally
46:48what in the world
46:50these things are about.
46:52And I can't figure it out.
46:54We found him brainstorming
46:55with other neuroscientists.
46:57So essentially entering
46:58all the covariates
46:59simultaneously,
47:00or you're taking...
47:01Once a year,
47:02they meet and try to solve
47:03some of the biggest questions
47:05in the field.
47:05It really complicated
47:06the results.
47:07Why should the brain
47:08invest so much
47:09caloric energy?
47:10You used to say
47:12you hadn't quite
47:13found your Einstein.
47:16Well, I think that
47:17we're probably not
47:18looking for an Einstein,
47:19although it'd be great
47:20if one showed up.
47:22But I've changed
47:22my metaphor slightly.
47:24And now I'm thinking
47:26more about
47:26a kind of group project.
47:28He found that
47:29these resting
47:30EEG asymmetries
47:31in alpha
47:32were predictive
47:33of task performance.
47:34Dr. Castellanos
47:35now advocates
47:36doing what pediatric
47:37cancer specialists
47:38did in the 70s.
47:40Back then,
47:42childhood cancer
47:42was an almost
47:43certain death sentence.
47:47The model is there.
47:49Every child
47:50with cancer
47:51in this country
47:52is part of a study.
47:54You can't get
47:54treated otherwise.
47:56Pediatric oncologists
47:58got together
47:59and said,
48:00we can't do this
48:01one by one.
48:02We have to form
48:03these associations.
48:06By networking
48:07and comparing
48:08treatment regimens,
48:09doctors learned
48:11what worked
48:11and what did not.
48:13The system
48:14is still in place
48:15today.
48:16We've been able
48:17to turn this around
48:18so that now
48:18it's at least
48:2090% cure
48:21for childhood cancers.
48:25And that's
48:26a huge turnaround.
48:30Everything that happens
48:31in the clinical treatment
48:32of kids with cancer
48:33is set up
48:34in such a way
48:35that you learn
48:36that you learn something.
48:36You learn something
48:37about what cancer is
48:38and how it should
48:39be treated.
48:40Think about
48:41the extraordinary
48:41public health impact
48:43of making that kind
48:44of principled commitment.
48:46That's what's missing.
48:47And in my view,
48:48it's scandalous.
48:49The key to conscious
48:54relaxation
48:54is the simple act
48:56of observing
48:57and accepting
48:57the present state
48:58of your body,
48:59mind
48:59and your environment.
49:02Roll back up.
49:05In the fall of 2007,
49:08Frontline revisited
49:09Jacob Solomon.
49:10From there,
49:14externally rotate
49:15the thighs
49:16with the use
49:17of your hands
49:17and come back
49:18to center.
49:20His psychiatrist
49:21believes this
49:22alternative therapy
49:23might help reduce
49:24his reliance
49:25on medication.
49:26Continue to feel
49:27the external rotation
49:28of the thighs.
49:30My thing is,
49:31I've been on
49:31eight medications
49:32at one time.
49:33I don't want
49:33to be that again.
49:35I want to get down
49:35to the lowest amount
49:37that I can.
49:38The lowest.
49:40Do you think
49:41you'll always be on meds?
49:43Possibly.
49:43I really don't know.
49:46I really don't know.
49:47I want to know,
49:48but I don't.
49:50It's got to be
49:51something besides...
49:52At school,
49:53he struggles academically.
49:54He still has bipolar
49:56and ADHD diagnoses,
49:58but has to be careful
49:59about his medications
50:00because they can make
50:02his tics worse.
50:04But he has
50:04a new best friend,
50:05and he just got
50:07his learner's permit.
50:09All in all,
50:09Jacob's parents say
50:10this might be
50:11the best it's ever been.
50:14He's started
50:15to see a psychologist
50:16a couple times a week,
50:17and we can already
50:18see it making a difference
50:19and helping him.
50:21He is at a good point,
50:22and we can see him
50:23starting to take
50:24a little bit more
50:24control of who he is,
50:26and that makes us
50:29really happy.
50:30Oh, yeah.
50:34Jessica is now
50:35in sixth grade
50:36and is doing well
50:37in school.
50:39But in the last few months,
50:41her mood swings
50:42have gotten worse.
50:44Her mother says
50:44she's not sure
50:45whether this is caused
50:46by her bipolar,
50:48her medications,
50:49or just the fact
50:51that her 13th birthday
50:52is around the corner.
50:54What you see
50:58is only half the story
51:01There's no side of me
51:03I'm the girl
51:05You know what
51:06I'm someone else do
51:08If you only knew
51:10It's a crazy life
51:14But I'm alright
51:16With a little girl,
51:31you think of first prom
51:32and you think
51:32of beautiful weddings
51:33and you think of
51:34sending them to college
51:36and you have to learn
51:39to put your dreams aside
51:40and really accept
51:42your child for exactly
51:43who they are
51:43and whatever she can do,
51:44she'll do.
51:45Do you think
51:52she'll grow out of it?
51:54No.
52:09No, she'll have to
52:09take meds
52:10for the rest of her life
52:12if she wants to
52:13go to college
52:15or have a job
52:16or have a family.
52:19But when you think
52:20about what the hard times
52:21were and hard times
52:22that are to come ahead
52:23for her,
52:24it's hard.
52:32Come here, brother.
52:33Since the last visit
52:36to Dr. Bacon,
52:37DJ's medications
52:38have been upped
52:39yet again.
52:41Chill up good.
52:43At first,
52:45Christina reported
52:45that the increase
52:46in dose
52:47didn't seem
52:47to be helping.
52:49DJ was irritable
52:50and throwing
52:51frequent tantrums.
52:52In recent weeks,
52:57DJ has improved
52:58and Christina
53:00still believes
53:01the medications
53:02are helping her son.
53:04car work
53:05too heavy
53:07room.
53:08Shh.
53:09Shh.
53:09Shh.
53:09Shh.
53:09Shh.
53:10Shh.
53:10Shh.
53:10Shh.
53:11Shh.
53:11Shh.
53:12Shh.
53:13Shh.
53:14Shh.
53:15Shh.
53:16Shh.
53:17Shh.
53:18Shh.
53:19Shh.
53:20Shh.
53:21Shh.
53:22There's much more
53:23to explore
53:24about this story
53:25on our website
53:26where you can
53:27watch the program
53:28again online.
53:29Find answers
53:31to frequently asked
53:32questions about
53:33psychiatric medications
53:34for children
53:34and the bipolar
53:36diagnosis.
53:37A nine-year-old
53:37with a big temper tantrum.
53:39Read the interviews
53:39with some of the
53:40doctors and researchers
53:41featured in this report.
53:4226 different diagnoses.
53:44You know,
53:44the brain is extremely
53:45complicated.
53:46Have unknown efficacy.
53:49And join the discussion.
53:50Okay, Holmes,
53:50I've got this next
53:51scan ready.
53:52Share your own story
53:53about a bipolar diagnosis
53:54and the decision
53:56to medicate a child.
53:57at pbs.org.
54:12Next time on Frontline.
54:14Cheney was in the
54:15front seats for
54:16the searing moments
54:17of the Nixon administration.
54:18He wanted to
54:19reverse history.
54:20Dick came out of that
54:21committed to restoring
54:22the powers of the presidency.
54:23It took three presidencies.
54:25He believes that
54:26the president
54:27should have the final word,
54:28indeed the only word.
54:29And a historic event
54:31to accomplish it.
54:32The president could do
54:33as he liked
54:34even if the Supreme Court
54:35said he couldn't.
54:37Cheney's Law.
54:38Watch Frontline.
54:46To order Frontline's
54:48The Medicated Child
54:49on DVD,
54:50call PBS Home Video
54:52at 1-800-PLAY-PBS.
54:55Frontline is made possible
55:18by contributions
55:19to your PBS station
55:21from viewers like you.
55:24With major funding
55:25from the John D.
55:26and Catherine T.
55:27MacArthur Foundation,
55:29helping to build
55:29a more just world.
55:33And additional funding
55:34from the Park Foundation.
55:35This is PBS.
55:51This is PBS.
55:55Thank you for sharing from us.
56:11And I'll see you
56:12in the next one.
56:12This is PBS.
56:12And else now,
56:13suddenly they're the potential
56:13of the essential