The Legal Wrangle Over Ritalin
A new round of lawsuits has thrust Ritalin, the popular psychiatric drug for treating ADD and ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), back into the spotlight. Lawyers in New Jersey and California argue that Novartis, the company that makes Ritalin, the American Psychiatric Association and the support organization CHADD all conspired to create a market for Ritalin and expand its use.
Donald Hildre represents plaintiffs in California and joins our debate from San Diego.
Q. Mr. Hildre, doctors have been commonly prescribing Ritalin to children for years. How has this harmed your clients?
"Well, it's probably one of the most over prescribed drugs for children. Our consultants have shown us that it has long term effects on children such as addiction to drugs, and that's primarily what our position is," says Hildre.
Q. Can you give us an idea of what the conspiracy and what that trail is?
"The trail is pretty easy to see when you determine that the millions of dollars paid by the drug companies to the APA, CHADD and other organizations. It's pretty obvious," says Hildre. He says they're currently looking into how this money was spent and will be able to elaborate at a later date.
Q. Are you implying that there are some smoking guns here?
"It's pretty difficult at this time [to talk about it]. We're in the embryo stages of discovery," says Hildre.
Q. Will you medical experts claim that the defendants are turning four-year-old into drug addicts? What do you mean by that?
"If you look at the chemical basis of Ritalin, it is an amphetamine. Four, five and six-year old children develop addictions just like adults develop addictions to amphetamines," Hildre says.
All three defendants have dismissed the suits as groundless. Many in the medical community are outraged by these allegations. Russell Barkley, PhD, is the Director of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and author of "Taking Charge of ADHD."
Q. Dr. Barkley, what is your first response to this lawsuit?
"My first response is that if what he says is true, I'd be the first person to line up as an expert witness for him, but this is an absolutely baseless lawsuit. The American public is getting tired of fringe political groups using the courts to pursue their own interests when there is now basis for the lawsuit and this is the case here. These drugs are safe, they're effective and they're the best studies drugs we have in psychology, pediatrics. A small lawsuit like this not only clogs up our courts with unnecessary lawsuits, it creates a great deal of unnecessary alarm in the minds of thousands of parents who are trying to do the best thing they can for their children," says Barkley.
Q. There are some similarities between Ritalin and cocaine, so it's reasonable that there would be some concern. How do you address that?
"Similarities doesn't mean identical. What makes a drug addictive s how rapidly it gets into and clears out of the brain. Cocaine enters rapidly because it is snorted through the sinus passages and therefore creates a great deal of euphoria and a rapid change in consciousness. But these drugs are taken orally, they are absorbed very slowly and therefore are not addictive if taken as prescribed," says Barkley.
Barkley says the rise in prescriptions for Ritalin just means doctors and parents are doing a better job of taking care of ADHD children.
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