According to a comprehensive Rutgers-Columbia study published on line in Health Affairs, children on Medicaid are four times as likely to be prescribed anti-psychotic drugs as compared to their counterparts who have private health insurance. In Poor children likelier to get antipsychotic drugs, New York Times reporter Duff Wilson opines that the release of this study will fuel the debate about whether poor children deemed to have emotional or behavioral problems are prescribed drugs, whether medically appropriate or not, simply because it is a cheaper course of treatment than counseling or therapy. The Times piece describes the side effects of such drugs which include drastic weight gain and other metabolic problems that can be life long.

Not surprisingly, recent national statistics on race and Medicaid usage compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicate that blacks and Latinos are disproportionately represented among Medicaid users. Based on the growing body of social science analysis and literature regarding implicit bias and the tendency of educators and others to respond to the behavior of children of color more punitively, addressing the stark disparity revealed by the Rutgers-Columbia study seems imperative to the future health and well being of our nation’s children.