Every now and then I come across an article I wish I had written.  This one is The Business of ADHD by Child Psychiatrist Winston Chung, MD.  If I had written it, I would have titled it ADHD and Greed.

Three highlights are:

    * The American Psychiatric Association is considering lowering the number of symptoms needed for an ADHD diagnosis from 6 to 4.  This is alarming because we already medicate 57% of children who don't meet the current criterion.  Lowering the number of symptoms needed will surely increase the number of children wrongfully receiving unneeded medication.  Woops, I forgot.  It's about profits.

    * Researchers promise pharmaceutical companies results that would benefit the drug company -- before they conduct the study!

    * Allen Frances, MD, Chair of the Task Force that created the current diagnostic criteria for ADHD (and other disorders) laments that his group "inadvertently contributed to three false 'epidemics' - attention deficit disorder, autism and childhood bipolar disorder. Clearly, our net was cast too wide and captured many 'patients' who might have been far better off never entering the mental health system."

For years I have been critical of these three "epidemics" which I call "diagnosis du jour".