Founded by Paul W. Eckert and headquartered in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Family Financial Centers, LLC, provides check-cashing and tax-preparation services. Committed to supporting civic charities, Family Financial Centers hosts an annual gala to raise funds for the benefit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and its research on diabetes.

1. Family Financial Centers
Study Indicates Antipsychotic
Medication Increases Risk of Diabetes

2. Introduction
 Founded by Paul W. Eckert and headquartered in
Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Family Financial Centers, LLC,
provides check-cashing and tax-preparation services.
Committed to supporting civic charities, Family Financial
Centers hosts an annual gala to raise funds for the benefit
of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and its research
on diabetes.
In 2015, Children’s Hospital published an article about
antipsychotic medication and its relation to diabetes.
Antipsychotic medication is typically used to treat children
diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Over
time, however, doctors, especially those seeing children
through public health care systems, have prescribed it to
patients with disruptive behaviors and attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Based on this development,
a new study was conducted to determine its impact on
diabetes.

3. Risk of Diabetes
 The study included Medicaid data on more than 1.3
million individuals ages 10 to 18. Of that population,
25 percent received antipsychotic medications to
manage behavioral problems in 2008. The study
found that one in 400 youth receiving no
antipsychotics were diagnosed with diabetes, while
one in 260 receiving antipsychotics and one in 200
receiving antipsychotics with antidepressant
medication were diagnosed with the condition.
Because of this increased risk, researchers suggest
that only small doses of antipsychotic medication
should be prescribed initially and that doctors and
families of children on antipsychotic drugs regularly
revisit their treatment strategy. Doctors must assess
the children’s progress with their behavioral issues
and must take care to track weight gain and abnormal
lab tests to adjust treatment plans, as necessary.