There has been a substantial history of Ritalin lawsuits against drug maker Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp., beginning as early as the late 1980s and continuing through the 1990s. The lawsuits, which occurred simultaneously with a movement against ADHD medications for children, alleged that children were suffering adverse side effects in association with the drug.
In 2000, lawsuits were filed against Novartis for fraudulent marketing and excessive promotion of Ritalin and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Novartis was believed to be working in cohort with the American Psychiatric Association and CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), an organization that benefits from the sales of pharmaceutical companies.
Death from Ritalin the truth behind ADHD
Info for Parents who are pressured to diagnose and drug their children for ADD or ADHD. Story behind our Sons death caused from ADHD Drug, Ritalin.
Between 1990 and 2000 there were 186 deaths from methylphenidate reported to the FDA MedWatch program, a voluntary reporting scheme, the numbers of which represent no more than 10 to 20% of the actual incidence.
Source: http://www.adhdfraud.org/commentary/1-6-02-2.htm
In 1998 at the National Institutes of Health Consensus on ADHD, the following statement was issued: "We do not have an independent, valid test for ADHD, and there is no data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain malfunction".
Labels like ADHD, ADD, ODD, LD etc are in no sense true diseases. There are no reliable diagnostic methods. Psychiatrists cannot even agree among themselves about how to diagnose ADD/ ADHD. In addition, your child needs to, be put on a medication that is a close cousin to amphetamine because of the ADHD labeled.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Parents if your Childs school wants to set up an IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting, make sure you do your home work prier to the meeting; Know all your rights, you as the parent carry a lot of weight when it comes to making the decision for your Childs educational programs. Search Parents rights at IEP meetings.
See many of the Conditions that Mimic ADHD
I want to warn parents of the risks involved in giving children psychotropic medications used to treat ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). These behaviors are listed in the DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for ADHD.
Our fourteen-Year-old Son Matthew died on March 21, 2000. The cause was determined to be from the long-term (age 7-14) of using of Methylphenidate a medication commonly known as Ritalin.
Matthew took 10mg of Ritalin three times a day; he was taken away from us for one week for testing by the court. They said they would be doing organic testing. We found out this was never done. When he got home we were court ordered to give him 20mg three tines a day.
For the last year of his life he was taking 20mg of Ritalin three times a day.
The Certificate of Death under due to, (or because of) reads, Death caused from Long Term Use of Methylphenidate, (Ritalin). According to Dr. Ljuba Dragovic, The chief pathologist in Oakland County Michigan, upon autopsy, Matthew's heart showed clear signs of small vessel damage, the type caused by stimulant drugs like amphetamines.
The medical examiners told me that a full-grown man’s heart weighs about 350 grams and that Matthew's heart weight was about 402 grams.
Matthew did not have a preexisting heart disease or defect that we knew of. We, his parents never ignored his medical needs. The medical examiner said this type of heart damage is not easy to detect with the standard test necessary for prescription refills.
While visiting the doctor with the school’s diagnosis and the recommendation for Ritalin, he seemed very frustrated and asked us to let the school know, “I am not a pharmacy.” This leads me to believe that we were not the first parents sent to this doctor, with the schools diagnosis and recommendation for Ritalin.
No one ever informed us of other crucial tests (echo-cardiogram) that we could have had done that would have discovered the enlargement of the heart muscle, caused from scare tissue which these types of drugs cause. The standard test performed consists of blood work, listening to the heart, questions about school behaviors, sleeping and eating habits.
It all started for Matthew in the first grade the school social worker in Berkley, Michigan kept calling us in for meetings. One particular morning before an IEP meeting, the school social worker Monica Fuchs, my wife and I, were waiting on the others to arrive.
Monica made us feel very threatened when she said that if we wouldn't consider getting Matt on Ritalin for their diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, that Social Services (Child Protective Services) could charge us for neglecting his educational and emotional needs. My wife and I were scared of the possibility of losing our children, if we did not comply.
I believe that some school employees like having children medicated because, it makes frustrated students that are having a difficult time learning and understanding, easier to manage, regardless of the physical and psychological risks this practice poses to children.
Not all families can afford hundreds of dollars for a drug free, private evaluation, so they will not be cornered into medicating their child. I am hoping that Republicans and Democrats will work together and fight this horrific war against the forced drugging of our children.
Medical diagnosis should remain outside the realm of education and stay there. Pressure to seek specific medical treatment is not the job of the school system.
We did not want Matthew on any medications, even though the school social worker or the doctor never informed us about the dangers of Ritalin and other stimulant medications used for ADD and ADHD. We just didn't feel good about putting our son on drugs and we made it very clear to school officials.
“Informed Consent”, which states in part “A person’s agreement to allow something to happen [such as surgery] that is based on a full disclosure of the facts needed to make the decision intelligently; i.e. knowledge of risks involved, alternatives etc” and “the probable risks against the probable benefits.”
The violation of parent’s rights is when they are not told of the unscientific nature of so-called disorders such as ADHD or the risks of the treatments involving (drugs) and they certainly are not told of alternatives to their child’s behavior such as undiagnosed allergies or food sensitivities, which could manifest with the symptoms of what psychiatry calls ADHD.
If we weren’t pressured by the school system, Matt would still be alive today. I cannot go back and change things for us at this point. However, I hope to God my story and information will reach the hearts and minds, of many families, so they can make an educated decision with more than a little selective information, if any, paid for by psychology and drug companies.
I have created a website in hopes that parents will learn the health risks involved in using psychotropic medications on growing children.
I hope you will be spared all the suffering and heartbreak this whole ADHD issue has caused our family and many others.
Please do not be intimidated by family, school staff, doctors, or anyone into medicating your child for ADHD or ADD. These mental illnesses are scientifically unfounded with no scientific validity what so ever. The dopamine theory is nothing more than wishful thinking on the part of psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry.
I truly believe this must have been my son’s purpose, to save the health and lives of many others.
How old will people live after taking these types of drugs as a child? Every time I hear about a child or young adult that has died from heart failure, I always wonder if they were ever on a psychotropic medication used for ADHD or depression.
If we would have known about all the children that have died from these psychiatric medications, I would have never given Matt the first pill.
Did you know that children that are diagnosed as having ADHD or ADD and take medication, the school labels them as learning disabled, and the schools receives additional state and federal funding per-child, per-semester.
I wonder if that is one of the reasons why school administrators are so adamant about medication, and the other would be to control their behavior, in their drug free school zone.
One of the hardest things for me to deal with is the fact that, Matthew never wanted his medication.
How many more 11-year-old Stephanie Hall's and 14-year-old Matthew Smith's will have to die before someone puts a stop to the biggest health care fraud ever? How many times will school psychology and drug companies get away with this?
In 1998 at the National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference on ADHD, the NIH issued the following statement regarding ADHD:
“We do not have an independent, valid test for ADHD, and there is no data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain malfunction.”
Children, do not need to be made into little robots with medication. I feel that good parenting, structure, diets, and teaching methods can make all the difference in the world. Different children develop in different ways; you cannot put children all into one box.
Did you know that the ADHD diagnosis checklist of behaviors is almost the same as the list of behaviors for gifted children (visit The National Foundation for Gifted and Creative Children at http://www.nfgcc.org
The DEA has classified Ritalin as a schedule two drug, comparable to Cocaine. Ritalin is also one of the top ten abused prescription drugs on the streets today.
From the research that I have done on amphetamines, when they are used, all the veins and arteries constrict and get very small which makes it hard for the heart to pump blood throughout the body. The extra force it takes to circulate blood causes high blood pressure and damage to the heart.
There are many other drugs that are given to children for ADD and ADHD with different names. Amphetamine-type drugs such as Adderall, Concreta, Metadate, Ritalin and Dexedrine also antidepressant type drugs, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI), such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and Luvox and the new selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors like Strattera which can cause serious side effects.
These can include seizures, cardiac problems such as arrhythmias, hypertension, heart failure and even death. These drugs can also cause emotional symptoms such as psychosis, agitation, aggression, hostility, anxiety and hallucinations.
Parents can find complete information about the side-effects of each drug in the drug insert from the pharmacist or in the Physician's Desk Reference.
We are coming to a point in our history where children have been taking these drugs for some time. Now the information is starting to come out.
Drugging Our Children:
by Cameron Woodworth
One day early in 2000, Michael and Jill Carroll of West Byrne, New York, got a knock on their door from Child Protective Services. Their alleged crime wasn't abusing drugs, beating their child or withholding love. Rather, they were accused of refusing to give their 7-year-old son, Kyle, the popular-yet-controversial drug, Ritalin.
As a result, the Times Union of Albany reports, the Carrolls were put on a statewide list of alleged child abusers and thrust into an Orwellian court battle to clear their name and to make sure that Kyle wasn't forcibly removed from their home.
Earlier, the Carrolls had been reported by the local school district for taking Kyle off the psychotropic drug, which doctors say can treat the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Michael Carroll was furious. He and Jill had consented to giving Kyle Ritalin after requesting special education for the boy, because his reading level was behind that of his classmates. A local pediatrician prescribed Ritalin. But the drug had caused the once-upbeat and rambunctious boy to become a withdrawn insomniac who ate only one meal a day. Moreover, it had not helped to improve his reading.
In the summer of 2000, a judge ordered that if the Carrolls could find a doctor to say that Ritalin was unnecessary, they could take their boy off of it. The Carrolls succeeded, Kyle turned back into his normal, outgoing self, and he's doing well in special education classes at a different school.
Critics say the Carroll case highlights the growing controversy surrounding Ritalin. Public schools increasingly are accusing parents of child abuse or neglect when they fail to give their children medications such as Ritalin. Several class-action lawsuits have been launched against the drug's maker, Novartis, and the American Psychiatric Association, charging those two bodies with fraudulently conspiring to promote the use of Ritalin among America's children. Many parents are looking for alternatives to drugs to help their children who have problems focusing in school.
In early 2000, a medical examiner in Pontiac, Michigan released findings that strongly linked long-term use of Ritalin to the death of a 14-year-old boy. The teenager died of a heart attack while skateboarding at his home. "Such changes in the blood vessels are not ordinarily found in children so young, but are typical of the damage seen in adults who chronically abuse stimulants," says Lawrence M. Diller, M.D, a San Francisco Bay-area pediatrician.
"The drugging of children has gotten so out of hand that America is waking up to this," says Dr. Peter Breggin, author of Talking Back to Ritalin. "This is a national catastrophe. I'm seeing children who are normal who are on five psychiatric drugs."
ADHD: A DISEASE REAL OR IMAGINED?
The medical establishment says that ADHD affects three to five percent of school children, 90 percent of them boys. Most specialists say ADHD is a neurological disorder. Doctors have been prescribing RitalinÑwhich they say helps students focus in schoolÑto youngsters in ever increasing numbers for the past three decades.
Many doctors are starting to question Ritalin orthodoxy. Only one or two percent of the population experience nervous system glitches that cause distraction or impulsive behavior, says Dr. Richard Bromfield, a psychiatrist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School.
"Yet many more people have ADHD symptoms that have nothing to do with their nervous systems and result instead from emotional distress, depression, anxiety, obsessions or learning disabilities," he says. "For these people, who exhibit the symptoms of ADHD but suffer from some other problem, Ritalin will likely be useless as a treatment. Taking it may postpone more effective treatment. And it may even be harmful."
There is no definitive test for ADHD, and its symptoms are similar to many common problematic behaviors exhibited by children. To many observers, it is unclear when a child truly suffers from ADHD, or is just more rambunctious or rebellious than other kids.
Symptoms of the disease are surprisingly generic, and apply to most people at one time or another. The following are among the list of symptoms: Fails to pay close attention to details or makes careless mistakes; easily distracted when playing or performing tasks; does not seem to listen when spoken to; does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish work; difficulty organizing tasks and activities; avoids or dislikes tasks that require a lot of concentrations; loses things, forgetful; fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.
Given the all-too-common symptoms, it's not difficult to see why so many kids are on Ritalin.
DOES RITALIN WORK? WHAT ABOUT SIDE EFFECTS?
Legally available only with a doctor's prescription, Ritalin (methylphenidate) is a stimulant that is similar to amphetamine drugs. Paradoxically, while Ritalin works as a stimulant in adults, it has a calming effect on youngsters with ADHD. Ritalin increases attention and decreases restlessness in overactive or impulsive children, and youngsters who are easily distracted. Prescriptions for Ritalin cost $30 to $60 per month.
To Breggin, Ritalin "suppresses creative, spontaneous and autonomous activity in children, making them more docile and obedient, and more willing to comply with routine, boring tasks such as classroom school work and homework."
The Food and Drug Administration classifies Ritalin as a Schedule II substance, joining amphetamines, cocaine, morphine, opium and barbiturates on the list. Some doctors consider it a much milder version of drugs like cocaine.
About four million kids are on Ritalin today, compared to one million in 1990. More than 90 percent of Ritalin use is in the United States. Use has doubled every four to seven years since 1970.
"No one knows how Ritalin works," says Harvard Medical School's Bromfield. "The drug is known to affect the brain's most ancient and basic structures, which control arousal and attention. I question the wisdom of tampering with such a crucially important part of the brain, particularly with a drug whose possible long-term side effects remain to be discovered."
"It's already clear that Ritalin can worsen underlying anxiety, depression, psychosis and seizures," he adds. "More common but milder side effects include nervousness and sleeplessness. Some studies indicate that the drug may interfere with bone growth."
The Physician's Desk Reference says Ritalin should not be used in kids under six years old, because "safety and effectiveness in this age-group have not been established." ABC News, though, reports that prescriptions are being written for children as young as one year old.
Ritalin also has been linked in some cases to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels). "That, in turn, creates more distractibility and confusion unrelated to the ADHD and then parents complain the drug isn't working," Dr. Barbara Fisher, a neuropsychologist who specializes in ADHD assessments, told the Detroit News. "With adolescents, they refuse to eat, so their blood sugar drops and they get tired and nasty."
The drug, having been around for only 30 years, is fairly new, and the long-term effects of taking daily doses are not known. But the medical establishment was jolted when, in 1995, the federal government's National Toxicology Program (NTP) found that Ritalin caused liver cancer in mice.
"The NTP study sends a strong warning that Ritalin may cause cancerÑin the liver or other organsÑin humans. Millions of young children take Ritalin for long periods of time, and children may be especially vulnerable. It would be prudent for [Health and Human Services] to discourage doctors from prescribing Ritalin, especially in the absence of an explicit warning about the cancer risk," says Samuel Epstein, professor of occupational and environmental health at the School of Public Health, University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago.
Ritalin is cheaper than evaluation and therapy, and critics say many insurance companies support it as a way to improve their bottom line. Critics also say educators, faced with growing class sizes and other pressures, look at Ritalin as an easy way to contend with difficult kids.
"Just Say No to drugs! By the way, here's your Ritalin."
In fact, Ritalin may be the epitome of a quick-fix solution for a fast-food culture.
Diller, a San Francisco Bay-area pediatrician, has prescribed Ritalin to his patients for the last two decades. But he has become increasingly concerned by the explosive growth in Ritalin prescriptions in the past decade. He argues that it is ironic that public school administrators, on the one hand, enthusiastically push a "Just Say No!" position on drug use, while at the same time telling youngsters to "Medicate or Else!"
Other doctors agree.
"I know of children who have been given Ritalin more to subdue them than to meet their needs Ð a practice that recalls the opium syrups used to soothe noisy infants in London a century ago," says Bromfield.
"The surge in both ADHD diagnoses and Ritalin prescriptions is yet another sign of a society suffering from a colossal lack of personal responsibility," he adds. "By telling patients that their failures, misbehavior and unhappiness are caused by a disorder, we risk colluding with their all-too-human belief that their actions are beyond their control and weaken their motivation to change on their own. And in the many cases where ADHD is misdiagnosed in children, we give parents the illusion that their child's problems have nothing to do with the home environment or with their performance as parents."
"We are the first adults to handle the generation gap through the wholesale drugging of our children," says Breggin, director of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology in Bethesda, Maryland. "We may be guaranteeing that future generations will be relatively devoid of people who think critically, raise painful questions, generate productive conflicts, or lead us to new spiritual and political insights."
Matt Scherbel was a 14-year-old student in the eighth grade at Thomas Pyle Middle School in Bethesda, Maryland, when he wrote an essay for his school newspaper. "So the doctors dope us up with Ritalin and control our minds with low doses of speed," he wrote. "The teachers pay us no mind until our minds are under control. It screws up our train of thought and makes us one-dimensional. We get headaches and almost depressed getting on and off it. It takes away extra imagination and flow of the mind, hence destroying the true, purest ideas of my mind. I can't think right, and for six hours of the day, I'm not me. I'm what the system would like me to beÉ.
"Ritalin does not help me learn; it simply lowers my mind down between the selected lines in which we are taught. Who's going to go further in life, the schmo with the same textbook answers and ideas, or the 'A.D.D. kid' who can offer ideas that have never been thought of or a new perspective on something?"
Victor Dmitruk, a pediatric psychologist in Kalamazoo, Michigan, told the Detroit News that Ritalin is drastically overprescribed. Ninety percent of the children taking it are improperly diagnosed, he says. He thinks ADHD has become a "catch-all diagnosis" for a wide array of other problems, such as hearing or learning disabilities, or emotional conflicts. Because Ritalin, like many stimulants, can give an initial boost of self-esteem and improve concentration, he worries that misdiagnoses conceal real problems facing affected children.
Breggin, in 2000, was invited to speak before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Education and the Workforce. "It is important for the Education Committee to understand that the ADD/ADHD diagnosis was developed specifically for the purpose of justifying the use of drugs to subdue the behaviors of children in the classroom," he told the committee.
"By diagnosing and drugging our children, we shift blame for the problem from our social institutions and ourselves as adults to the relatively powerless children in our care," he added. "We harm children by failing to identify and to meet their real educational needs for better prepared teachers, more teacher- and child-friendly classrooms, more inspiring curriculum, and more engaging classroom technologies."
"At the same time, when we diagnose and drug our children, we avoid facing critical issues about educational reform. In effect, we drug the children who are signaling the need for reform, and force all children into conformity with our bureaucratic systems."
"Instead of addressing basic needs of kids, we drug them," Breggin says. "Better family life, educational facilities, spiritual direction, a safer environment, better television and videosÑforget about it. Just drug 'em."
IN DEFENSE OF TEMPERAMENTAL DIVERSITY
Diller argues that educators and doctors should be more tolerant of temperamental differences between youngsters. After all, one of America's hallmarks has always been the strength and diversity of its individuals.
"I wondered if Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn was brought up to my office tomorrow whether or not, after evaluating their family and school environments, they would ultimately leave with a prescription for Ritalin," he writes. Strong and diverse individuals including "Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison and Bill Clinton have all been described as 'being ADD'."
While Americans believe that any person should be able to dream of becoming the next Bill Gates, "we also believe in a 'medical utopia' where all the problems of life can be solved by visiting the doctor and taking a pill," he says. "And our 'state religion' is corporate consumer fundamentalismÑmaterial acquisition will lead to emotional and spiritual contentment. Performance enhancers like Ritalin, Prozac and Viagra are 'in'."
"No doubt a core of ADD children will struggle in any environment," he adds. "But an intolerance of temperamental diversity currently exists in our country that views our present day Tom Sawyers as nothing but genetic detritus. Human diversity in the past has contributed to the richness of our culture and civilization. I worry about a society where there's no place for an unmedicated Tom. He is so many of our sons and daughters."
"Ritalin helps children to conform to externally imposed rules and regulations," writes noted author John Robbins, in Reclaiming Our Health: Exploding the Medical Myth and Embracing the Source of True Healing. "But I have serious questions about drugging children to make them more obedient to authority. What happens to these young people whose special destiny lies in being innovators, who carry it within themselves to challenge abuses of power to help create a better world? What if young Martin Luther King, Jr., had been drugged as a child? Would the world have ever been touched by his dream, and the opportunity to make it come true?"
POPPING PILLS: RITALIN ABUSED BY MANY TEENAGERS
Ritalin ranks in the 'Top 10' controlled drugs stolen from doctors and pharmacies, according to the U.S. DEA. Its street names include "Vitamin R" and "R-Ball." Ritalin is also a gateway drug to harder drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroine.
"In all honesty, I haven't written a paper without Ritalin since my junior year in high school," a Harvard student told student.com for a story titled "The Ritalin Racket". "I even wrote my Harvard essay on it. It keeps you up when you're tired, and makes you much more aware of what you're doing. Although there are certain risks involved, I think it's worth it."
In a 1997 Indiana University survey of 44,232 students, nearly 7 percent of high school students said they had used Ritalin recreationally at least once in the previous year; 2.5 percent said they used it at least once a month. (ABC News)
When used recreationally, Ritalin can provide feelings of euphoria, especially when used in a such a way that it enters the blood stream rapidly. Many kids use it to counterbalance the depressant effects of alcohol so they can drink more, according to Dr. Eric Heiligenstein, a psychiatrist with the University of Wisconsin Health Services in Madison.
Ritalin can be popped, snorted, and dissolved and injected for a high much like a caffeine-jolt or a slower-acting form of cocaine.
HEALTHY DIET, ENVIRONMENT: IMPORTANT IN COMBATING ADHD
It's becoming increasingly clear to many people that bad diets and environmental factors such as lead and toxic chemicals may be contributing factors to ADHD. According to Rachel's Environment & Health News, developmental disabilities such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia and uncontrollable aggression affect 12 million childrenÑalmost one in five.
"In Harm's Way", a report by the Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility chapter, suggests that millions of American children have learning disabilities or reduced I.Q., or exhibit aggressive behavior, because of exposure to toxic chemicals.
"There are over 4,000 chemicals lacing the food and beverage supply in the U.S.," says John Taylor, a nationally recognized psychologist who specializes in ADHD, and has written 10 books on the subject. "None has been evaluated by FDA for behavioral effects on human beings. Many people are sensitive to them, many of whom have ADHD."
"Ritalin isn't going to cause massive problemsÑit doesn't poison brain cells and it washes right out of the body," he adds. "It is a good treatment option. But I say, why not give the brain cells everything they need to operate correctly first and see what happens? In 75 percent of kids, giving the high-octane engine that is the brain the proper fuelÑvitamins, minerals, essential fatty acidsÑimproves symptoms significantly."
Many studies confirm Taylor's opinion.
In 1973, Dr. Ben Feingold told the American Medical Association that food additives caused 40 to 50 percent of the hyperactivity in kids he saw in his practice at the Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco. He found that many children improved dramatically when they stopped eating foods with artificial colorings, flavors and certain preservatives.
A 1985 Lancet study found that 79 percent of hyperactive kids improved when certain artificial colorings and flavorings were eliminated from their diet. In most cases, the symptoms became worse again when the suspect foods were added back to the diet.
In a 1993 Cornell University study, subjects were put on a diet that eliminated dairy products, wheat, corn, yeast, soy, citrus, eggs, peanuts, chocolate and artificial colors and preservatives. Within two weeks, 19 of 26 children with ADHD showed signs of decreased hyperactivity.
In 1999, the nonprofit group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) released a report citing 17 controlled studies that show that diet can adversely affect some children's behavior, sometimes dramatically. Most of these studies concentrated on artificial colors, while some also dealt with milk, corn and other common foods.
Researchers also have found that deficiencies of Vitamin B6, magnesium and essential fatty acids may trigger ADHD in some people. Alternativedr.com, an online alternative health web site, suggests reducing animal fats and increasing fish and vegetable oil intake, especially olive, grapeseed and cod liver oils. Alternativedr.com also recommends taking vitamin C (1,000 mg twice per day), E (400 IU per day), and B-complex (50 to 100 mg per day), and calcium/magnesium (250 to 500 mg per day), especially before bed.
"It makes a lot more sense to try modifying a child's diet before treating him or her with a stimulant drug," said Dr. Marvin Boris, a Woodbury, New York pediatrician, in the CSPI report. His 1994 study found that diet affected the behavior of two-thirds of his subjects. "Health organizations and professionals should recognize that avoiding certain foods and additives can greatly benefit some troubled children."
ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS
"While [Ritalin] is appropriate and has excellent results in some cases, I think it's being greatly overprescribed," says well-known alternative doctor and author Andrew Weil. "I question the wisdom of its almost automatic recommendation by physiciansÑespecially since good alternative treatments are available."
The Detroit News, in a 1998 series on the Ritalin epidemic, pointed to blue-green algae as one alternative treatment that's making a difference. The Wittich family of Oakland Township, was desperate for a solution. Jackie Wittich started giving blue-green algae to her son, Mike. Three months later, she met with Mike's teachers.
"They all sat there virtually with their mouths open and said, 'What medication do you have this child on? His behavior is so different. He's done a 180.'"
Chiropractic, homeopathy, herbs, biofeedback and sound therapy all have been recommended by people in the alternative health field.
"Many times, children (with ADHD) have misalignments in their spine that irritate the nervous system, contributing to the hyperactivity," Dr. Sue Anderson, a chiropractor in Ann Arbor, Michigan, told the Detroit News "Adjustments to the spine often ease that irritation and calm the child."
Herbs can be used as dried extracts, including capsules, powders and teas; glycerine extracts, or tinctures (alcohol extracts). Alternativedr.com recommends taking two to four cups of tea per day, using some combination of the following herbs: Lemon balm, lavender, chamomile, passionflower, linden, catnip and kava kava.
Pycnogenol, classified as a food supplement by the FDA, is an extract from the bark of the French maritime pine tree, and has been used in Europe for more than 30 years to treat a variety of ailments, including attention problems.
Weil advocates the use of biofeedback in some cases. "The research suggests that children with the disorder have brain wave patterns low in beta waves, which are associated with alert concentration. The goal of biofeedback therapy is to retrain brain waves to follow a more focused pattern."
Treatment usually requires 35 to 50 sessions, and can cost $50 to $125 per hour. But Weil says research shows that biofeedback not only improves concentration, it also increases I.Q. and other test scores, and can boost self-esteem.
Weil also recommends cranial therapy, especially for youngsters who experienced birth trauma or head trauma. Additionally, the Tomatis method, a healing technique utilizing sound, can help ADHD by correcting poor sensory integration.
Robbins writes, "Unlike drugs, the alternative approaches typically enhance learning, build self-esteem, promote overall health, encourage self-reliance, and have no side effects. They do not so much seek to make children more 'manageable,' as to make it easier for children to manage the challenges and opportunities life brings them."
