BBC PANORMAMA Kids on Pills Monday April 10 2000 Reporter Shelley Jofre Producer Dorothy Parker This week's Panorama investigates the dramatic rise in the number of children being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and its controversial treatment with drugs such as Ritalin. Since 1995, there has been a staggering 9-fold increase in the number of Ritalin prescriptions in the UK yet little is known about the long-term effects of such drug-taking. The Government are so concerned at what they call "the potential for inappropriate misuse" that they have asked the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to appraise Ritalin and issue guidelines to the NHS. In Staffordshire, a consultant psychiatrist has been suspended while the local health authority investigates the children who have been diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Ritalin at his clinic. The programme then travels to the US where as many as 5% of children are now prescribed Ritalin, and asks whether the UK is heading in the same direction Full text: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/events/panorama/newsid_708000/708123.stm Video - Kids On Pills Coping with a child diagnosed with ADHD http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/705000/video/_708123_david_senders_vi.ram Video - Kids On Pills Shelley Jofre reports on the effects of drug treatment on children http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/705000/video/_708123_adhd_vi.ram
