Guidelines include Strattera as an ADHD therapy option

Apr 27 2004

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), the leading professional organization for child and adolescent psychiatry, today issued guidelines that highlight the importance of accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The guidelines include new recommendations for treatment in which Strattera^® (atomoxetine HCl) is a first-line therapy option for ADHD. This marks the first time AACAP has listed a nonstimulant as a first-line therapy option for ADHD.

Strattera works differently than stimulants as it is a norephinephrine reuptake inhibitor. It is the only medication indicated specifically for the treatment of ADHD in children, adolescents and adults. Strattera provides full-day symptom control without insomnia in most children and adolescents.

"Strattera is an excellent means by which to treat this chronic and impairing disorder

effectively and safely," says David Duesenberg, M.D., a member of AACAP, staff psychiatrist at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center, and affiliated with St. Louis University. "AACAP’s decision to place Strattera as a first-line therapy option will have a positive impact on the lives of many patients and their families who struggle with the disorder."

"Strattera offers a different treatment option and this option has a lot of potential benefits," explained Albert J. Allen, M.D., Ph.D., Lilly Research Laboratories. "The fact that AACAP approved a nonstimulant as a first-line therapy option has shifted the paradigm, helping us to refocus ADHD treatment from a ‘one-medication-fits-all’ strategy to matching the medications to each patients’ needs."

To date, health care providers have written more than four million prescriptions and more than one million patients have taken Strattera.