This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Physicians urged not to prescribe cognitive enhancers to healthy patients
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Canadian researchers are urging physicians not to prescribe cognitive enhancers, or stimulants, to patients who have not been diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder, according to a research article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
“Physicians are important stakeholders in this debate, given the risks and regulations of prescription drugs and the potential for requests from patients for cognitive enhancers,” the researchers wrote.
In the article,Cynthia Forlini, MA, Serge Gauthier, MD, and Eric Racine, PhD, of McGill University in Montreal, argued that lack of evidence of the potential benefits or harms of stimulants such as methylphenidate or dextroamphetamine is one reason physicians should not prescribe the drugs to healthy patients.
Another reason is limited health care resources. Because Canada’s health care system is publicly funded, prescribing stimulants to those who do not necessarily need them may be a burden on taxpayers.
Professional integrity is the third reason the researchers recommended against prescribing stimulants to healthy patients.
Healthy people may use stimulants to perform better at work and at school. According to the researchers, the prevalence of stimulant use among college students ranges from 1% to 11%, based on previous studies.
“This practice raises important ethical and societal questions concerning the freedom of people to engage in cognitive enhancement and whether this is fair practice in academic and professional environments,” they wrote.
The American Academy of Neurology has stated that prescribing medication for cognitive enhancement is ethically permissible. However, according to Forlini and colleagues, this position begs the question, should they?
“Given the current state of limited evidence on medical, scientific, social and ethical aspects of cognitive enhancement, we call for greater attention to its appropriateness within existing Canadian health care systems,” the researchers concluded.
Disclosure: Gauthier reports financial ties with Bristol-Myers Squibb, Elan, Janssen, Lilly, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi, Servier and United Bio Source.