Originally published February 26 2006
Ritalin becomes the focus of FDA safety investigation
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Detroit Free Press reports on the safety of Ritalin, which has become an important question over the last few years, as 25 deaths have raised serious concerns about the drug's effects.
The millions of people who take it and other types of stimulant medicines for attention disorders are likely to ask those kinds of questions for months after a federal advisory committee recommended Thursday the strongest warning labels be put on the prescription drugs.
He died of a heart attack in 2000, collapsing after skateboarding in his aunt's basement.
Kelly and Lawrence Smith, Matthew's parents, have spent the last five years lobbying for stronger warning labels.
Within psychiatry, the drugs are viewed as widely safe and effective for as many as 70% of those who take them, experts say.
They help reduce hyperactivity, the hallmark symptom of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and disorganization and inattentiveness, common symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder.
Possible side effects include sleep loss, appetite loss and dry mouth, and sometimes, increased heart rate, though symptoms often wane after continued use.
They've always generated controversy, in part because so many people take the drugs -- 2.5 million children and 1.5 million adults.
Dr. David Rosenberg, a professor of child psychiatry and psychology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, called the drugs some of the safest in medicine.
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation of East Hanover, N.J., which makes Ritalin, released a statement Friday.
We recognize that these are complex issues and will work with the FDA to do what is in the best interest of patients with ADHD."
Linda O'Brien of Sterling Heights has sons, 21 and 14, who both have taken Ritalin since age 4.
"The good far outweighs the risk," O'Brien said.
"Without it, for a lot of kids there's the risk of dropping out, jail, continued failure as an adult, even suicide."
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