FDA Has Approved the First Medical Prescription Video Game
EndeavorRX is forging the way as the first video game approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as prescription medicine. According to The Verge, doctors can now prescribe the game to children between the ages of eight and 12 who have ADHD.
Prior to authorizing the prescription of the video game, Akili Interactive, the prescription digital medicine company responsible for EndeavorRX, conducted seven years of clinical trials studying more than 600 kids. Akili learned that one-third of those treated with the game for 25 minutes a day, five days a week for four weeks, “no longer had a measurable attention deficit on at least one measure of objective attention.”
“Improvements in ADHD impairments following a month of treatment with EndeavorRx were maintained for up to a month,” the company added, also revealing that side effects include frustration and headache. Still, however, Akili found that the video game should not necessarily be used in place of more traditional ADHD treatments.
EndeavorRX has yet to launch, but Akili opened enrollment for the game in April. You can visit the company's website to join the waitlist, and follow on over to The Verge for more on the groundbreaking video game.