by Martin Whitely
8 July 2012
An article in today’s Sunday Age, available at http://www.theage.com.au/national/youth-mental-health-team-too-free-with-drugs-audit-20120707-21o29.html, highlights the results of a prescribing audit of Patrick McGorry’s Orygen Youth Mental Health Service. It found the service “prescribed medication to a majority of depressed 15 to 25-year-olds before they had received adequate counselling, despite international guidelines advising against the practice.”[1]
The audit of 150 patients treated in 2007 found “75 per cent of those diagnosed with depression were given the drugs too early. Clinical guidelines recommend that in most cases antidepressants should only be given to young people after they fail to respond to four to six sessions of psychotherapy, which usually takes about six weeks. However, the audit, carried out by Orygen’s own researchers, found on average patients received the drugs after just 27 days. It also showed that fewer than half were followed up to see whether their symptoms had improved or to check for side effects, which can include an increased risk of suicide.”[2]
It is commendable that Orygen[3] published the results of the audit, however the results make a mockery of Professor Patrick McGorry’s often repeated assertion that drugs are not the first-line treatment in any but the most serious cases.
In response Professor George Patton, director of adolescent research at the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital, told The Age, ”This paper illustrates how much we need to be looking at these new services [EPPIC and headspace] to determine the extent to which we’re following best clinical practice and to ask the questions, are we getting value for money out of these investments, and are we actually seeing better clinical outcomes?”[4]
At the very least there is an obvious need for an independent scientific review of the EPPIC and headspace programs identified for national rollout and for tight real time program wide auditing of medication practice.
Note: The issues raised in today’s Age article reinforce similar concerns I voiced last year about antidepressant prescribing at Professor McGorry’s other favourite project headspace. I raised my concerns in the WA State Parliament and on my blog last year titled “Is Patrick McGorry’s and the Independent Mental Health Reform Group’s $3.5b blueprint for Australian mental health the way forward, or a prescription for more ‘psychiatric disorders’, ‘off label’ prescribing and youth suicide?” available at http://speedupsitstill.com/patrick-mcgorry%e2%80%99s-independent-mental-health-reform-group%e2%80%99s-3-5b-blueprint-australian-mental-health-forward-prescription-%e2%80%98psychiatric-disorders%e2%80%99-%e2%80%98off-label
[1] Jill Stark, Youth mental health team too free with drugs: audit, The Sunday Age, July 8, 2012
[2] Jill Stark, Youth mental health team too free with drugs: audit, The Sunday Age, July 8, 2012
[3] Orygen runs a range of youth mental health services, including EPPIC (Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre), PACE (Personal Assessment and Crisis Evaluation), YMC (Youth Mood Clinic) and HYPE (Helping Young People Early, for people with emerging borderline personality disorder). In addition, Orygen is a partner in headspace.
[4] Jill Stark, Youth mental health team too free with drugs: audit, The Sunday Age, July 8, 2012
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