The Truth About Cancer - Ritalin and Cancer Risks

The Truth About Cancer

- Ritalin Risks

American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines for Treating Behavioral Disorders in Children with

Ritalin Ignores Evidence of Cancer Risks warns Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.

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 tax payer's 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.

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