Andrew Rios\u2019s seizures began when he was 5 months old and only got worse. At 18 months, when an epilepsy medication resulted in violent behavior, he was prescribed the antipsychotic Risperdal, a drug typically used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in adults, and rarely used for children as young as 5 years.<\/p>\n
When Andrew screamed in his sleep and seemed to interact with people and objects that were not there, his frightened mother researched Risperdal and discovered that the drug was not approved, and had never even been studied, in children anywhere near as young as Andrew.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just \u201d\u02dcTake this, no big deal,\u2019 like they were Tic Tacs,\u201d\u009d said Genesis Rios, a mother of five in Rancho Dominguez, Calif. \u201cHe was just a baby.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Cases like that of Andrew Rios, in which children age 2 or younger are prescribed psychiatric medications to address alarmingly violent or withdrawn behavior, are rising rapidly, data shows.<\/p>\n