Over 14,000 antidepressant prescriptions issued for U18s in first five months of 2024

Michael Bolton

Figures from the HSE show there have been over 14,000 prescriptions issued for antidepressants for under 18s in the first five months of this year.

Figures seen by BreakingNews.ie under the Freedom of Information Act reveal there have been 14,638 prescriptions issued from January to May in 2024.

Of those prescriptions, 11,250 of them were issued under the General Medical Service (GMS) scheme, which provides access to medical and surgical services for persons for whom acquiring such services would present undue hardship.

2,584 prescriptions have been issued under the Drugs Payment scheme (DPS), where you and your family only have to pay a maximum of €80 each month for approved prescribed drugs and medicines.

804 prescriptions were issued under the Long-Term Illness Scheme (LTIS). This scheme allows people to get some drugs, medicine and medical applications for free.

In all of 2023, there were 36,578 prescriptions for people under the age of 18 for anti-depression medication.

28,323 were issued under the GMS scheme, with 6,267 given under the DPS scheme. 1,998 were issued under the LTIS.

In a statement from the Department of Health, they said: "International guidelines and regulated clinical practice supports the use of pharmacological (medication) treatment as an important and evidenced based intervention for young people with moderate to severe mental illness. Medication is rarely used alone, and in combination with psychological and social treatments remains important in helping a young person to recover.

"However, following the concerns raised by the findings of the ‘Maskey Report’, which highlighted that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) care in South Kerry did not meet adequate standards in the areas of care planning, diagnostic accuracy and medication prescribing, Minister Butler asked the HSE to conduct a national review of medication prescribing in CAMHS to determine if this was isolated to one area or indicative of widespread practice.

"This, first ever, national audit of prescribing in CAMHS covered prescribing across all the 75 CAMHS teams and had universal cooperation from these teams. The audit examined the period from July – December 2021 and included all mental disorders treated within CAMHS."

The Department of Health said in an audit 50 per cent of children attending Camhs were prescribed medication.