Drugs that help also are harmful

Michael Monheit, Esquire, Monheit Law, PC
Zyprexa: Lawyer: Side Effects: bipolar: weight gain

The same drug that helped Rachel Mason graduate from eighth grade by controlling her bipolar disorder caused her to weigh more than most girls at the ceremony.

This year, the FDA added a warning label about increased diabetes risk to the anti-psychotic drugs, which doctors find are tied to increased cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

"It's a huge problem. All of these medications right now are double-edged swords," said Dr. Michael Naylor, University of Illinois at Chicago director of child psychiatry. "You're kind of left with a dilemma: Do I choose a medication that can harm me or an illness that can harm me? It's a terrible choice."

"The gateway to these serious complications in the future is the weight gain," Correll said. "The numbers we found were very surprising and sobering." A 12-week study of 50 youths published in the 2002 Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found Zyprexa and Risperdal were associated with "extreme weight gain in adolescents, much higher than that reported in adults." Experts say the increased weight can not only affect health but also perpetuate depression. "Oh gosh, it puts their self-esteem to the floor," said Dr. Louis Kraus, Rush University Medical Center chief of child and adolescent psychiatry.

Eli Lilly and Co., which makes Zyprexa, is looking into which patients gain the most weight, said spokeswoman Marni Lemons. "It's possible that a receptor that improves your functioning [also] improves your appetite," Lemons said. "Is it possible to create a drug that doesn't have weight gain as a side effect? We don't know. We have researchers looking into that."