Report says more kids have A-D-D

A new report from one of Iowa’s largest insurers shows more Iowa kids are being diagnosed with A-D-D and being treated with prescription drugs. The latest so-called “Wellmark Report” finds an 83 percent increase in the use of drugs prescribed to Iowa and South Dakota kids diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder between 1999 and 2003. In 2003 alone, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield paid out nearly six-and-a-half million dollars for about 86-thousand prescriptions to treat kids in Iowa and South Dakota who’ve been diagnosed with the disorder. Wellmark officials say over the past five years, the price of drugs to treat the attention deficit disorder has doubled, but that increase can be attributed in part to new drugs on the market that can be taken once a day. That means the kid doesn’t have to take his prescription drugs at school. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids who have difficulty paying attention, are in constant motion or who act and speak without thinking.