Article archive / March 1, 2015
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 3. Source pages: 6.
The Department of Health and Hospitals reported findings from its task force charged with looking into the unusually high rates of medications for ADHD in Louisiana. The group released its 32-page report in February and identified three major goals: increase the accuracy of ADHD diagnosis, increase access and linkage to behavioral therapies and parent support, and improve the alignment of pharmacological treatment with evidence-based guidelines.
The project was prompted by a 2014 report by Express Scripts, the largest pharmacy benefit manager in the U.S., who found that Louisiana had the second highest rate of ADHD medication in the country, following after South Carolina.
During the 2014 Regular Legislative Session, Senator David Heitmeier proposed Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 39 which charged DDH with studying the issue. In response, DHH convened a departmental task force to study this issue. The Task Force worked with pediatrics/psychiatry from Tulane University and technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and held a symposium in December 2014.
Authors of the February report wrote, “A review of the data on ADHD diagnosis and treatment both nationally and in Louisiana and a wide-ranging exploration of the literature on ADHD instructed the Task Force that a key component in ensuring ADHD medications are used effectively is to ensure that ADHD is diagnosed accurately in the first place. High rates of ADHD diagnosis may result from misdiagnosis and overdiagnosis.”
“… ADHD medication is prescribed not because it is the best option, but because it is seen as the only or most logistically feasible option. When parents, doctors and teachers do not have access to or are unaware of a robust system of evidence-based behavioral therapies for children, they will be left with a prescription as their best or only treatment option. National best-practice standards strongly suggest that, to reduce unnecessary ADHD diagnosis and prescribing, expanding certain areas of behavioral health services for children will play a key role.
The group proposed an expanded Task Force will guide the formation and efforts of specific workgroups, to focus on crafting policy and solutions in areas such as health care and education, said the authors of the report, and to work with the Legislature “tackle this important issue for Louisiana and its residents.”
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