America’s health care system is a mess. Its incentives are costing the U.S. a fortune, both in cold hard cash and in real damage to human health. Nowhere is this more pernicious than in children’s health: The rise in autism, ADHD and transgender diagnoses appears to be driven by profit motive taking advantage of social pathologies.

While the capitalist, free-market system is superior to any socialist or single-payer system in promoting innovation and matching supply to demand, it malfunctions when there is an information gap between provider and customer.

In children’s care, the information advantage medical professionals have over parents is particularly dangerous. Not only can an unscrupulous doctor or psychologist play on a parents’ fears and feelings of protectiveness, reluctance to accept diagnosis and treatment could become grounds for accusations of child neglect and abuse.

Are elements of the health care industry engaged in a cynical money grab at the expense of children? The evidence points to “Yes.”

The Economist found ADHD diagnoses in the U.S. more than double the rate found in other developed nations. Not surprisingly, ADHD has a much higher prevalence among children who grow up in higher-income areas. That fact alone is evidence there is something rotten in the system. (Worth noting: diagnoses are 14 percent higher on Halloween. That’s not science, that’s a sugar rush.)

An op-ed in the Wall Street Journal recently

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