Ritalin Can Cause Cancer

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Sat, 15 Apr 2006 15:59:37 -0400

[sSRI-Research] Ritalin Can Cause Cancer

 

 

 

 

Ritalin Can Cause Cancer

http://www.adhd-biofeedback.com/cancer.html

 

 

 

AAP Guidelines for Treating Behavioral Disorders in Children with

Ritalin Ignores Evidence of Cancer Risks

 

By Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition

 

Based on an industry-funded multi-university trial on 282 pre-teen

children treated with Ritalin for attention deficit/hyperactivity

disorders (ADHD), just published in Pediatrics, the American Academy

of Pediatrics has endorsed the use of the drug.

 

However, the Academy ignores clear evidence of the drug's cancer risks

of which parents, teachers and school nurses, besides most

pediatricians and psychiatrists, still remain uninformed and unaware.

 

Some 40 years after the drug was first marketed by Ciba Geigy,

carcinogenicity tests were conducted at the taxpayers expense by the

National Toxicology Program, the results of which were published in

1995. Adult mice were fed Ritalin over a two-year period at dosages

close to those prescribed to children.

 

The mice developed a statistically significant incidence of liver

abnormalities and tumors, including highly aggressive rare cancers

known as hepatoblastomas. These findings are particularly disturbing

as the tests were conducted on adult, rather than young mice which

would be expected to be much more sensitive to carcinogenic effects.

 

The National Toxicology Program concluded that Ritalin is a " possible

human carcinogen, " and recommended the need for further research.

While still insisting that the drug is safe, the Food and Drug

Administration admitted that these findings signal " carcinogenic

potential, " and required a statement to this effect in the drug's

package insert. However, these inserts are not seen by parents or nurses.

 

The Physicians' Desk Reference admits evidence on the carcinogenicity

of Ritalin, now manufactured by Novartis, qualified by the statement

that " the significance of these results is unknown, " apparently not

recognizing that this is more alarming than reassuring. Apart from

cancer risks, there is also suggestive evidence that Ritalin induces

genetic damage in blood cells of Ritalin-treated children.

 

Concerns on Ritalin's cancer risk are more acute in view of the

millions of children treated annually with the drug and the escalating

incidence of childhood cancer, by some 35% over the last few decades,

quite apart from delayed risks of cancer in adult life. These risks

are compounded by the availability of alternative safe and effective

procedures, notably behavior modification and biofeedback.

 

There is no justification for prescribing Ritalin, even by highly

qualified pediatricians and psychiatrists, unless parents have been

explicitly informed of the drug's cancer risks. Otherwise, prescribing

Ritalin constitutes unarguable medical malpractice.