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Ritalin
is Deviously Promoted by Manufacturer
Gives $900,000 to a "consumer" group to promote the use of Ritalin
The drug company that manufactures Ritalin has secretly given $900,000 to a "consumer" group to promote the use of Ritalin. This is the second drug company which we have reported about that is making large profits from children. In our first issue about the safety of the hepatitis-B vaccine, we discussed the high profits being generated by drug companies in its manufacture. That drug is now temporarily suspended because of concerns about its safety. Massachusetts News November 1--The major group pushing the agenda of "Attention Deficit Disorder" and Ritalin is CHADD or "Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder". The group has chapters in nearly every state and is based in Landover, Md. It is a non-profit organization, founded in 1987, "to improve the lives of people with ttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder through education, advocacy and support," reads its literature. "CHADD offers its members and the public information they can trust." A TV documentary has revealed that Ritalin’s maker, Ciba-Geigy (now, Novartis) had given CHADD nearly $900,000 over five years. All during that time, CHADD had not disclosed these contributions except to a few of its members. CHADD has been lobbying for years to get Ritalin reclassified, removed from the Schedule II category. This would separate it from its pharmacological near-twins such as cocaine, opium, amphetamines and barbiturates. As a result, Ritalin would be even easier to obtain. Unfortunately for CHADD, as it was waiting for the DEA to make a ruling, the documentary was aired on TV. The DEA took CHADD and Ciba-Geigy to task. As Policy Review magazine reported in May, the DEA noted its concerns over "the depth of the financial relationship between CHADD and Ciba-Geigy." The pharmaceutical giant, "stands to benefit from a change in scheduling of methylphenidate (Ritalin]," said the DEA. In the late 1980s, several lawsuits were filed, including some in Massachusetts, against prescribers of Ritalin. Five Massachusetts families, for example, filed suit against six doctors. The families claimed that their children suffered severe side effects, including suicidal depression, because of Ritalin prescribed by the doctors. The lawsuits "are attacking the physicians themselves," said plaintiff Attorney Larry Lafferty. "They have the power to dispense the drug. They are not being careful." The cases never went to trial, however. In pre-trial
hearings, the judge ruled that the doctors, in prescribing Ritalin, were
following standard medical procedure. Their actions did not constitute
"malpractice."
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