A new report released by the White House outlines the current administration's approach to child health, pinning much of the blame of childhood chronic disease on factors such as diet, physical activity and "overmedicalization," or overmedicating.
Released by the Make America Healthy Again Commission, the report serves as an initial assessment, with the commission now having about 80 days to come up with a strategy that effectively overhauls currency federal practices.
The report claims to have discovered a trend of overprescribing medication to children, often influenced by conflicts of interest in medical research and practice. The commission claims this has led to unnecessary treatments and potential long-term health risks.
Some of the drugs being administered to children have "proven harms," according to the commission, citing psychiatric drugs that can cause short-term seizures and antibiotics that could precipitate allergic reactions and contribute to antibiotic resistance.
The commission also called attention to drugs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression, saying they're often prescribed unnecessarily due to misdiagnoses and are given to children "relatively young for their school grade." SSRIs, which are used to treat depression and anxiety, and GLP-1 weight-loss drugs were also flagged for "potentially major long-term repercussions."
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who chairs the MAHA Commission, has been criticized for his views linking vaccines to autism. The report calls for more "rigorous" clinical trial designs for children's vaccines and criticized vaccine reporting systems for failing to fully delineate the potential harms.
The administration placed much of the onus for this on the pharmaceutical industry and on corporations, calling out pharmaceutical companies for the more than $5 billion they spent on direct-to-consumer advertising in 2023, which the report claims can lead to an increase in inappropriate prescriptions.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT - REACTION
The report drew a response from Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which said that while the administration was right to focus on understanding the root causes of pediatric chronic disease, people should have every option to get better – including medicines.
"Medicines are part of the solution, not the cause of chronic disease," said PhRMA President and CEO Stephen Ubl. "That's why our industry wakes up every day focused on developing new treatments to fight and prevent disease."
PhRMA also criticized the MAHA Commission report for several "untrue or misleading claims," including the assertion that children are overprescribed medications. "The biopharmaceutical industry believes decisions about childhood medication should always be made with the guidance of doctors and parents' involvement and as part of a comprehensive treatment plan customized to fit each person's unique needs and condition," said Ubl.
He also defended vaccines, saying that arguably nothing has done more to improve public health, save perhaps for clean drinking water. Vaccines, said PhRMA, have eliminated dangerous diseases like polio and smallpox in the U.S., and are essential for public health and pandemic preparedness.
The group defended the U.S. healthcare systems innovation ecosystem.
"Americans should be proud of our unique open and transparent innovation ecosystem – where industry, academia and government researchers work together to advance medical science," said Ubl. "This is a feature – not a bug – of America's global biopharmaceutical leadership and should be preserved."
THE LARGER TREND
The report attempted to pinpoint the root causes of declining pediatric health, claiming that nearly 70% of a children's caloric intake comes from ultra-processed foods (UPFs), leading to nutrient deficiencies and increased exposure to harmful additives. That's driving up obesity, diabetes and other chronic conditions, the report claims.
Another area of concern for the report's authors is exposure to environmental chemicals, with children increasingly exposed to synthetic chemicals, some associated with developmental issues and chronic diseases, they claim.
The report also found that high levels of inactivity, excessive screen time, sleep deprivation, and chronic stress are prevalent among children, potentially leading to more chronic disease and mental health challenges.
Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.