Massachusetts health officials have established a tracking system to monitor prescription of psychiatric drugs to children after the overdose death of a four-year-old girl, the Boston Globe reported Oct. 7.

In the first three months of the program, 35 cases of suspected overprescription of drugs have been uncovered. The state Medicaid program is analyzing records of prescriptions to 82,900 children under age 5; flagged cases include those where kids are receiving three or more psychiatric drugs or one powerful antipsychotic.

In suspicious cases, health officials are contacting prescribing physicians for further information.

Many doctors question the practice of prescribing psychiatric drugs to young children, saying they are unlikely to display symptoms of mental illness at a young age and that the effect of the drugs on developing brains is unknown. Prior to the 1990s, few children under age 5 were treated with such drugs.

A similar monitoring system set up for Texas' foster-care system led to a quick decline in such prescriptions. "Just the fact that doctors are being asked to get involved in this discussion, they are going to be a little more reflective about what they are doing," said Ted Hughes of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.