Accidental overdoses and side effects from attention deficit drugs likely send thousands of children and adults to emergency rooms, according to the first national estimates of the problem.
Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated problems with the stimulant drugs drive nearly 3,100 people to ERs each year. Nearly two-thirds — overdoses and accidental use — could be prevented by parents locking the pills away, the researchers say.
Other patients had side effects, including potential cardiac problems such as chest pain, stroke, high blood pressure and fast heart rate.
Concerns over those effects have led some doctors to urge the Food and Drug Administration to require a "black box," its most serious warning, on package inserts for drugs such as Ritalin, Concerta and Adderall. Yet even doctors advising the FDA don't agree on whether that's warranted.
The issue was discussed in a series of letters in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, including some from doctors worried about the dangers of not treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Twenty-five deaths linked to ADHD drugs, 19 involving children, were reported to FDA from 1999 through 2003. Fifty-four other cases of serious heart problems, including heart attacks and strokes, were also reported. Some of the patients had prior heart problems.
This week, the FDA said it is "working diligently" on "labeling changes that we feel accurately reflect the available data and the advice of the committees." The agency declined interview requests.
Courtesy AP
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