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Study finds divorce increases Ritalin use in children

Children whose parents divorce are nearly twice as likely to be prescribed Ritalin in the aftermath of the split, a Canadian study reports.

But the author, a sociologist from the University of Alberta, cautioned against concluding that children of divorce are over-prescribed the drug, which is used to treat Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD.

Lisa Strohschein said the data she used can only identify the phenomenon and cannot reveal why Ritalin use rates are double when children of divorced parents are compared to children whose parents stay married.

“I've got the what, but not the why,” Ms. Strohschein said from Edmonton.

Ms. Strohschein suggests there may be a variety of answers. Some kids may need the drug to cope with the stress of the split, some kids may have ADHD and some kids may be getting a drug they don't really need.

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Strattera Improved ADHD Symptoms In Patients With Comorbid Alcohol Abuse

Strattera improved symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in patients with comorbid alcohol abuse disorder, suggesting ADHD can be treated safely and effectively with Strattera in patients with both disorders.

Results from the 12-week study were presented today at a major medical meeting of psychiatrists.

The study was designed to test the hypothesis that Strattera is superior to placebo in the treatment of ADHD symptoms and prevention of relapse of alcohol abuse in adult patients with both ADHD and comorbid alcohol abuse disorder who were recently abstinent.

"ADHD is present in at least one-quarter of adults with alcohol abuse or dependence. Treating ADHD in adults with co-occurring alcohol abuse can be challenging, and up until now, no data have been available to help us know how to treat these patients. Often the first course of action is to treat the alcohol problem first, then later the ADHD," said study author Timothy E. Wilens, M.D., director of substance abuse services in the Pediatric Psychopharmacology Clinics at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "While additional studies are needed, this study is encouraging because it is the first to show that ADHD can be treated safely and effectively with Strattera in patients with ADHD and very recent alcohol abuse."

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Gene 'could predict ADHD drug reaction'

A genetic test may help stop hyperactive children being overdosed on controversial psycho-stimulant drugs like Ritalin, Australian research suggests.

About 50,000 Australian kids are prescribed stimulants to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but problems getting the dose right mean many are initially over-drugged.

Studies in adults with the condition have revealed there is a gene which makes some more sensitive to the medication and prone to the "zombie-like" side effects of overdose.

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Meds Help Preschoolers with ADHD

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that low doses of methylphenidate (Ritalin) are a safe and effective treatment for preschoolers who have attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In the first long-term, large-scale study designed to determine the safety and effectiveness of treating ADHD preschoolers with methylphenidate (Ritalin), the study also found that children this age are more sensitive than older children to the medication’s side effects and therefore should be closely monitored.

The 70-week, six-site study was funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and was described in several articles in the November 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

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A Rush to Medicate Young Minds

I have been treating, educating and caring for children for more than 30 years, half of that time as a child psychiatrist, and the changes I have seen in the practice of child psychiatry are shocking. Psychiatrists are now misdiagnosing and overmedicating children for ordinary defiance and misbehavior. The temper tantrums of belligerent children are increasingly being characterized as psychiatric illnesses.

Using such diagnoses as bipolar disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Asperger's, doctors are justifying the sedation of difficult kids with powerful psychiatric drugs that may have serious, permanent or even lethal side effects.

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ADHD, bone drugs studied for FDA by health insurers

Widely prescribed attention deficit disorder drugs will be the first subject of studies that are being undertaken for U.S. regulators to address the safety of medicines already on the market, according to a lead researcher.

The new study will try to determine whether such drugs are associated with greater likelihood of heart attack, sudden cardiac death or ventricular arrhythmia, according to Joseph Selby, a researcher at Kaiser Permanente, one of the groups contracted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to do the studies.

The FDA has been under pressure over drug safety since the 2004 withdrawal of Merck & Co.'s (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Vioxx painkiller, and is increasing its collaboration with third parties, mainly health insurers, to get access to large swaths of data for research.

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Celebrity Designer Ty Pennington to Host ADHD Experts on Call Program

To help patients, families and caregivers better understand Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Shire Pharmaceuticals Inc., will host the eighth annual ADHD Experts on Call on September 20, 2006, from 8 A.M. to midnight EDT. Celebrity designer Ty Pennington, who was diagnosed with ADHD as a teenager, is back for the third year in a row to talk about his experience managing the disorder. Some of the nation’s top ADHD experts will answer questions at the toll-free telephone hotline, 1-888-ASK-ADHD.

The hotline will provide live access to English- and Spanish-speaking experts including health care professionals, educators and advocates who can answer questions regarding the disorder. In addition, a confidential, one-on-one on-line forum will be available at http://www.ADHDExpertsOnCall.com throughout the day.

Makers of ADHD drug accused of price-gouging

Glen McGregor, The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Friday, August 25, 2006

The manufacturers of two new medicines used to treat children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are being accused of charging excessive prices for the drugs.

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Many kids with ADHD not getting required meds

NEW YORK -- While many people believe that too many children are being treated for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) these days, a new study shows that many children with the condition are not being treated.

"Rather than the popular belief that children are being overmedicated... in fact they're being undermedicated," study co-author Dr. Wendy Reich, of Washington University School of Medicine, in St. Louis, Missouri, told Reuters Health.

Various researchers have reported an increase in the rate of treatment for ADHD, but other reports suggest that medications are not prescribed for those who need them most.

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