Drugs ‘not best response’ to treat children

HEALTH Minister Micheál Martin has admitted that administering mood-altering drugs to children in care is “not the best response” to treating them.

Mr Martin was responding to a report in the Irish Examiner yesterday which revealed that 20% of children in high support care are prescribed drugs such as Prozac and Ritalin. They range in age from eight to 14.

The minister said while “clinicians and medical doctors are best placed to give these children a chance, we’d obviously be concerned about over-medication”. Mr Martin said children with challenging behaviour should have access to multi-disciplinary teams to assess their care needs.