comments_image -

Here, Kiddie, Kiddie

How drug companies are pushing ADHD drugs for children by funding researchers and advocacy groups – and ignoring the studies which question their claims.
 
 
LIKE THIS ARTICLE ?
Join our mailing list:

Sign up to stay up to date on the latest headlines via email.

 
 
 
 

For Gene Haislip, a former official of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the perennial debate over Ritalin, the stimulant commonly prescribed for children with "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)," is an aching reminder of a moral battle he fought – and lost – to big drug companies.

For 17 years, the now retired director of the DEA´s Office of Diversion Control set production quotas for controlled substances like methylphenidate (MPH), the federally restricted stimulant commonly known as Ritalin. During that time, he fought hard to raise public awareness about over-prescribing of stimulants to children, about the drug's high rate of street diversion, and about its long-term health impact on young patients.

"This affects the most sensitive part of our population," says Haislip, now a consultant for drug companies on issues of compliance to federal law. "When I was at the DEA, we created awareness about this issue. But the bottom line is we didn't succeed in changing the situation because this – prescribing methylphenidate, for example – is spiraling.

"A few individuals in government expressing concern can't equal the marketing power of large companies," he adds. "I have doubts that the truth is driving this issue. It seems that market forces and money is behind it."

As public scrutiny of drug companies grows, so do questions about what critics say is a vast over-prescribing of MPH, especially as more adults are taking other MPH-based medicines such as Concerta. According to the DEA, production of the central nervous system stimulant, which is pharmacologically similar to amphetamines, grew from 5,000 kilograms in 1993 to 20,967 kilograms in 2002 – probably the largest ever prescribing explosion for a controlled substance, says Haislip.

Echoing the sentiments of many in and outside the scientific community, Haislip says he suspects the dubious marketing tactics of big drug money have fueled the spiraled use of MPH. Specifically, he suspects the compromise of a small group of prolific ADHD researchers whose work is funded by corporate producers of ADHD drugs. He also suspects that one or more ADHD patient advocacy groups that receive drug company donations have essentially become fronts to push the prescribing of stimulants to children.

And evidence suggests Haislip may be right.

"It Was Like A Whitewash"

Enter Dr. William Pelham, director of the Center for Children and Families at State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY).

A leading ADHD researcher for 30 years, Pelham is a former member of the scientific advisory board for McNeil Pharmaceuticals, which produces Tylenol and markets Concerta, a popular stimulant medication trademarked by Alza Corp. of Mountain View, Calif. Over his career, Pelham has penned over 250 research papers on ADHD, many with industry grants. In 2002, he was given a lifetime achievement award by the world's largest ADHD patient advocacy group, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD).

In interviews with AlterNet, Pelham provided glimpses into the dubious methods drug maker McNeil-Alza uses to ensure that studies it funds produce favorable results for its ADHD medications.

Between 1997 and 1999, he was paid by McNeil to conduct one of three studies used to get FDA approval. The company currently uses the three studies to claim that 96 percent of children taking Concerta experience no problems in appetite, growth, or sleep. But Pelham says the studies were flawed. The original intent of the studies was to measure both side effects and main effects of the drug. But two of the three studies, including Pelham's, required that the subjects had to already be taking MPH and responding well to it in order to enter the study. In other words, by stacking the studies with patients already successfully taking stimulants, McNeil ensured the subjects would be unlikely to register side effects, Pelham says.

submit to reddit

-
Email
Print
Share
LIKED THIS ARTICLE? JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST
Stay up to date with the latest AlterNet headlines via email
Alternet Special Coverage - Occupy Wall Street
Advertisement
Most Read
Most Emailed
Most Discussed
On REDDIT
On DIGG
 
loading most read content ..
Advertisement
Occupy Protesters Mic-Check Palin During CPAC Speech

By Adele M. Stan | AlterNet

 
 
Apple, Accustomed to Profits and Praise, Faces Outcry for Labor Practices at Chinese Factories

By Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez | Democracy Now!

 
 
Could Santorum Actually Beat Romney? And Would the Obama Campaign be Ready?

By Steve M. | Booman Tribune

 
 
Bill Moyers: The Economy Has Been Engineered to Screw Over Millennials (With an AlterNet Shoutout!)

By Staff | AlterNet

 
 
Maher: Conservatives Are the Ones Dividing the Country

By Sarah Seltzer | AlterNet

 
 
In Kansas, Is Catholic Church Trying to Destroy A Victim's Advocates Organization?

By Julie Cain | Ms. Magazine Blog

 
 
Obama vs. the Concern Trolls on Nonsense "Religious Liberty" Issue

By Digby | Hullabaloo

 
 
At CPAC, Santorum Surges Despite Idiotic Claims; Romney Poses as 'Severe' Conservative; Gingrich Makes War on GOP

By Adele M. Stan | AlterNet

 
 
Wisconsin's Gov. Walker Appeals to CPAC Crowd for Help Fending Off Recall

By Adele M. Stan | AlterNet

 
 
In Birth Control Debate, Cable News Disproportionately Asked Men What They Thought of Women's Health

By Faiz Shakir and Adam Peck | Think Progress

 
 
 
Reverend Billy Talen
 
 
 
loading ...
POWERED BY DIGG'S USERS
 
[ page served from web 1 ]