The Selling of ADHD: Diagnoses, Prescriptions Soar After 20-Year Marketing Effort...

[Glia]

The Selling of Attention Deficit Disorder
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/h...-disorder.html

After more than 50 years leading the fight to legitimize attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Keith Conners could be celebrating.

Severely hyperactive and impulsive children, once shunned as bad seeds, are now recognized as having a real neurological problem. Doctors and parents have largely accepted drugs like Adderall and Concerta to temper the traits of classic A.D.H.D., helping youngsters succeed in school and beyond.

But Dr. Conners did not feel triumphant this fall as he addressed a group of fellow A.D.H.D. specialists in Washington. He noted that recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the diagnosis had been made in 15 percent of high school-age children, and that the number of children on medication for the disorder had soared to 3.5 million from 600,000 in 1990 [1]. He questioned the rising rates of diagnosis and called them “a national disaster [2] of dangerous proportions.”

“The numbers make it look like an epidemic. Well, it’s not. It’s preposterous,” Dr. Conners, a psychologist and professor emeritus at Duke University, said in a subsequent interview. “This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.” ...continues here

Panel discussion of the article and issue on Democracy Now!:
https://www.democracynow.org/2013/12..._prescriptions

And the FDA put out a warning about ADHD stimulant drugs today:

FDA Warning Issued on ADHD Drug Due to Painful Priapism
A type of stimulant used to treat attention deficit disorders can lead to the development of long-lasting and sometimes painful erections, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a written warning released on Tuesday.

The condition, referred to as priapism, was linked in an FDA review to males between 8 to 33 years of age who took drugs containing methylphenidate, the active ingredient in Ritalin and Concerta.

“Patients who take methylphenidate and develop erections lasting longer than four hours should seek immediate medical treatment to prevent long-term problems with the penis,” the FDA cautioned. “If not treated right away, priapism can lead to permanent damage to the penis.”

“Younger males, especially those who have not yet reached puberty, may not recognize the problem or may be embarrassed to tell anyone if it occurs,” the statement continued.

The FDA said its review found some cases of priapism were in the context of methylphenidate withdrawal and some of these patients responded to restarting a regimen of the drug. Two cases in the review required surgical intervention, with one requiring the use of a shunt and the other requiring needle aspiration of erectile tissue. ... continues here