Post #5 - 1980 Mellaril (LATE)

I know this is super late, but please consider being extremely generous and grading it anyway :].

Thank you!

http://www.bonkersinstitute.org/medshow/kidhandful.html

This article discusses the use of Thioridazine as a treatment for hyperactivity in children.

If one were to completely exclude the argument of hyperactivity being a natural and fully normative behavioral trait in many children, this article still wreaks of (as is unfortunately commonplace for brand-name pharmaceuticals) unconcerned and questionable marketing.

For starters, the sidebar clearly states that Mellaril is intended for "short-term treatment" in hyperactive children, though the drug's bulleted qualities mostly pertain to the lack of side-effects that would be found in long-term usage of Mellaril's competitors, which implies similar frequency of dosage between them.

Secondly, the article brags that, unlike other similar products on the market, Thioridazine is safe for children as young as two years of age. It is disgusting to unnecessarily drug an unaware toddler for any reason, let alone for the purpose of correcting behavioral characteristics that are (at least) occasionally found in all healthy children of that age. In addition and relation to this point, the sidebar claims that this drug is a "treatment... [for] children who show excessive motor activity," but motor and cognitive functions are still extremely early in development for children of that age, and frequent exercise of both should be strongly encouraged.

Lastly, a perk of Mellaril is that its "Dosage [is] easily adjusted," which, as a parent, implies moderate security in upping the dosage for those days when your child is exceptionally unbearable, but in the smaller text of the article, it is implied that an overdose is possible in portions only moderately over the recommended daily allowance. That said, while we are discussing unnecessary dangers of Thioridazine, not only is there a ridiculous number of side-effects (the list of which takes up the majority of the text in the article), but included in those possible side-effects are restlessness, motor restlessness, and - seriously - hyperactivity. God.