Two weeks ago the FDA issued warnings that ADHD drugs could cause psychosis and cardiovascular problems, and at the time I commented that the announcement was possibly decades overdue. Today I found an op-ed piece which echoes this sentiment, and lists some juicy statistics which I will now re-print out of context:
Between January 2000, and June 30, 2005, the FDA identified nearly 1,000 cases of psychosis or mania linked to ADHD drugs, many of them children
Children typically have both visual and tactile hallucinations involving insects, snakes, and worms.
According to a Canadian study done in 1999, psychotic symptoms developed in more than 9% of the children who take stimulants for ADHD.
7 million Americans have misused ADHD stimulant drugs.
ADHD market was $2.6 billion in 2005
The article offers all this plus gruesome tales of people on Adderall becoming psychotic, suicidal, murderous, talking to God, the works. A great wealth of information on this timely topic.
