Article url:
  http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Nov/13/hf/hf01a.html
 
  Posted on: Wednesday, November 13, 2002
  Use of Ritalin to control kids' behavior debated
  By Svetlana Kolchik
 
  Gannett News Service
 
  WASHINGTON - Sue Parry's son was still in kindergarten in Honolulu when
  his teachers began complaining about his behavior. The boy had trouble
  reading, wasn't "sitting well" and had other problems, they told her.
 
  A few years later, Parry's son began taking Ritalin, one of several
  prescription drugs used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,
  the most widespread childhood behavioral disorder in America today.
 
  Parry now believes there was never anything wrong with her son.
 
  "Any child, particularly a boy, in America could be considered to have
  ADD," said Parry, whose son stopped taking Ritalin after he developed heart
  problems. "The children are normal; they are just not performing."
 
  That view is becoming increasingly common across the country as parents
  and experts question the objectivity of the ADHD diagnosis and the safety
  of medications used to treat it.

  Since 1999, 11 states have passed laws barring local school officials from
  recommending psychotropic drugs to children, and calling for academic
  solutions to deal with students with behavior problems. They include
  Hawai'i, Connecticut, Virginia, Illinois and North Carolina. Sixteen other
  states have introduced similar proposals.
 
  In Congress, the House Government Reform Committee held a hearing in
  September to discuss whether children with symptoms of ADHD are being
  overmedicated.
 
  Committee chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., said of symptoms such as
  inattentiveness, an inability to focus or finish tasks, excessive
  restlessness and impulsive behavior: "That sounds like me in grade school.
  I didn't take Ritalin. I became a congressman."
 
  Advocates of the ADHD diagnosis insist that treating the disorder with
  drugs is usually effective.

  "I don't see a big problem with schools forcing parents to put their
  children on medications," said David Fassler, a child psychiatrist in
  Burlington, Vt., and former chairman of the American Psychiatric
  Association's Committee on Children, Adolescents and Families. "I am more
  concerned about children who aren't getting any treatment whatsoever."

  But Fassler cautions that school officials should not make diagnoses and
  that parents should be thoroughly informed before deciding their children
  might need drugs for the disorder.
 
  Clark Ross, who runs a 20,000-member support group for ADHD patients,
  describes the arguments against medicating as a "simplistic ideological
  approach," and says Ritalin and related drugs help at least 70 percent of
  children with ADHD.
 
  "Millions of people have taken medications since 1954," said Ross, who
  heads Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in
  Landover, Md. "We have only a handful of traumatic experiences."

  More than 2 million school-age children suffer from ADHD, according to the
  National Institute of Mental Health. The disorder affects boys at two to
  three times the rate of girls.
 
  Americans are the world's largest users of ADHD-related drugs, experts
  say. As many as 6 million youngsters between the ages of 5 and 18 take such
  drugs every day, according to national medical reports. That includes
  nearly 2 million children who take Ritalin - a 500 percent increase since
  1990. The number of Ritalin prescriptions to children and adults rose from
  about 2.5 million in 1999 to 2.9 million in 2000, according to the National
  Center for Health Statistics. Doctors increasingly prescribe Ritalin and
  other psychotropic drugs to children as young as 2.

  The Drug Enforcement Administration classifies Ritalin as
  pharmacologically similar to cocaine, and says it has a high potential for
  abuse. Possible side effects include heart problems, loss of appetite,
  insomnia and headaches.
 
  Some teachers and parents call Ritalin a wonder drug. Others, such as
  Parry and the president's brother, Neil Bush - who says his son was
  misdiagnosed with ADHD a few years ago - claim Ritalin is often prescribed
  unnecessarily. They blame schools for failing to engage children in the
  learning process and for demanding too much of them academically.
 
  Parry said that, instead of addressing her child's needs, teachers would
  give her pharmaceutical-company pamphlets advertising stimulants.
 
  Mary Block, an osteopath in Hurst, Texas, and author of "No More ADHD: 10
  Steps to Help Improve Your Child's Attention and Behavior Without Drugs"
  (Block Books, $12.00), says thousands of children are diagnosed with ADHD
  without medical exams.
 
  Allergies, thyroid problems, learning difficulties, a high-sugar diet and
  other nutritional problems also cause hyperactivity and inattentiveness,
  she noted.

  "Doctors are brainwashed that prescription is a magic thing," Block said.
 
  Still, pills remain the most convenient solution for parents who complain
  that a shortage of child mental health experts means they often wait months
  for an appointment with a child psychiatrist.
 
  Said Katherine Keough, president of the National Association for State
  Controlled Substance Authorities in Waltham, Mass., and a mother of two
  children with ADHD: "It's very easy to get drugs. It's much harder to get
  counseling."
 
  Article url:
  http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Nov/13/hf/hf01a.html