Announcements
MAADDSG Events
Adult and Adolescent ADD Testing Project Continues
ADD Significant Other Support Group
ADHD Drug Warning
*********
The Manhattan Adult Attention Deficit Disorder
Support Group's 2007 lineup
Upcoming Manhattan ADD Support Sessions:
Date TBA
West End Collegiate Church school annex
245 West 77th Street (northeast corner, 77th and West End Avenue)
Time: 6:00 - 9:00 P. M.
Upcoming Manhattan ADD Presentations:
Date TBA - Can Cognitive Remediation Help Adults With ADD?
Thursday evenings from 6:30 pm to 9 pm at:
Seafarers & International House meeting space
123 East 15th Street (northeast corner, 15th and Irving Place)
For more information call 845-278-3022 or 914-378-3295, email MAADDSG@aol.com or visit www.maaddsg.org.
*********
Adult and Adolescent ADD Testing Project Continues
The moderate cost Adult ADD Testing Project is continuing. This is a special, brief 4 1/2 hour attention deficit disorder testing battery that is part of a research project. These evaluations are done on Saturdays (11am-4pm) and cost $600. It consists of a screening of overall intelligence, attention and concentration measures, verbal and visual memory, reading comprehension, a continuous performance test, and a personality assessment. A brief 2 page report is given with all the scores on the last page.
This evaluation can be an adjunct to ongoing treatment or can be a means of determining a treatment strategy. A deposit of $200 is necessary before the Saturday appointment is made, and final payment is due on the day of testing. This is not part of any insurance plan, but a receipt can be given. E-mail me your address so that an agreement form can be mailed to you, or you may download the form in PDF format (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). The form must be returned with the $200 deposit prior to scheduling the testing date.
*********
ADD Significant Others Group
ADDothers, a support group for spouses and significant others of adults with ADD, meets on Monday evenings from 6:30-7:30pm in midtown Manhattan. (Location is subject to change; write to ADDothers@aol.com for up-to-date information.)
Modeled on the 12-step program Al-Anon, ADDothers offers participants a chance to share experiences, challenges, and successes, with the goal of solving common problems.
*********
ADHD Drug Warning
Eli Lilly & Co., maker of the ADD medication Strattera, has issued the following patient advisory: "In rare cases, Strattera can cause liver damage. Call your doctor right away if you have itching, dark urine, yellow skin or eyes, upper right-side abdominal tenderness, or unexplained 'flu-like' symptoms. In all reported cases, the liver recovered upon discontinuation of Strattera."
The government has added the following: "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising health care professionals about a new warning for Strattera, a drug approved for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults and children. The labeling is being updated with a bolded warning about the potential for severe liver injury following two reports (a teenager and an adult) in patients who had been treated with Strattera for several months, both of whom recovered.
"The labeling warns that severe liver injury may progress to liver failure resulting in death or the need for a liver transplant in a small percentage of patients. The labeling also notes that the number of actual cases of severe liver injury is unknown because of under-reporting of post-marketing adverse events.
"The bolded warning indicates that the medication should be discontinued in patients who developed jaundice (yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes) or laboratory evidence of liver injury.
"Strattera has been on the market since 2002 and has been used in more than 2 million patients. In clinical trials of 6000 patients, no signal for liver problems (hepatotoxicity) had emerged.
"FDA has asked the manufacturer to add a bolded warning about severe liver injury to the labeling. Eli Lilly has agreed to alert health care professionals about the new information in a Dear Health Professional letter. The company will also update the patient package insert with information about the signs and symptoms of liver problems ...."
The FDA is asking health-care professionals to report adverse events associated with Strattera directly to Lilly (1-800-LILLYRX) or to them (1-800-FDA-1088). TheFDA MedWatch form can be downloaded and mailed to:
FDA MedWatch
HFD-410
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville MD 20857
or faxed to 1-800-FDA-0178. The FDA can also be reached at 1-888-INFO-FDA or 1-888-463-6332.
While this situation needs to be monitored, some perspective may come in handy. As one clinician notes, "two known cases of liver problems on Strattera among millions of treated cases is a very small percentage."