Here is another angle, as reported by Bloomberg, on yesterday’s post on the explosive increase in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder among children:

J&J, Pfizer Profit on `Juvenile Bipolar Juggernaut’

Sales for children of antipsychotic medicines made by Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer Inc. have exploded, fueled by a 40-fold increase over nine years in the number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

The number of prescriptions for children doubled to 4.4 million between 2003 and 2006, according to data provided to Bloomberg by Wolters Kluwer NV, a drug-tracking company. The sales added to revenue for J&J, the world’s largest producer of health supplies; Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker; London- based AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. of New York.

The expanded use of bipolar disorder as a pediatric diagnosis has made children the fastest-growing part of the $11.5 billion U.S. market for antipsychotic drugs. Some experts say the treatments are bringing needed help to troubled kids, while others call it a fad that is exposing children to serious risks, including weight gain and diabetes.

“I call it the juvenile bipolar juggernaut,” says Joseph Woolston, chief of child psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Hospital, affiliated with Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. “The diagnosis has been broadened considerably, and I think that’s a big problem.”

Researchers reported yesterday in the Archives of General Psychiatry that the number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder during outpatient visits to doctors skyrocketed to 800,000 in 2003 from 20,000 in 1994. The data from Netherlands- based Wolters Kluwer suggest that the numbers have continued to climb in the past three years. [full text]