Ritalin/cancer finding preliminary
July 5, 2005 08:46

http://www.health24.com/news/Medications_Medicines/1-927,32408.asp

As the US Food and Drug Administration moved to examine a potential link between Ritalin and cancer, the scientists who first unearthed the connection stressed Friday that the finding was preliminary and should not be cause for panic.

The concerns about the drug, a stimulant that has been used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for decades, surfaced during a FDA paediatrics advisory committee meeting Thursday. The findings, by researchers from the MD Anderson Cancer Centre at the University of Texas, showed damage to the chromosomes of 12 children who had taken Ritalin for three months.

The advisory committee had been called to discuss yet another health issue surrounding the class of ADHD medications known as methylphenidates, to which Ritalin belongs: Some psychiatric side effects have been reported among children using Concerta, Ritalin and other versions of these drugs.

"We definitely need a larger study," said lead researcher Dr Randa A. El-Zein. If approved, the study would not even be funded until March 2006.

The government interest is there, however.

Scientists from the FDA, the NIH and the Environmental Protection Agency travelled to Texas on May 23 to examine the study methods used by the researchers. "They thought, 'Yes, we do have a public concern,' and that a larger study should be performed," El-Zein said.

"We're hoping that they'll see this as a major public health issue, and as something that needs to be done," Bondy added.