Are they finally going to get one right?

from the Ottawa Citizen

Doctors misdiagnosing, over-prescribing drugs for attention deficit disorders, UN warns
Commission says more studies also needed on long-term effects of medicines

UNITED NATIONS - The children's rights committee of the United Nations has, for the first time, warned that doctors in developed countries may be wrongly diagnosing some youth with hyperactivity and attention deficit disorders and over-prescribing drug treatments.

Members also say the long-term effects of Ritalin and other drugs commonly used to treat the disorders remain unknown, and more study is needed to determine whether they are safe.

"Our information is that, in many instances, it is used as more or less a control mechanism to keep the child in school -- to deal with their misbehaviour in class," Brent Parfitt, a Canadian member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, said in an interview from Geneva.

"It's primarily with respect to western nations ... our colleagues have indicated they're concerned about the long-term effects of the drug, and so our recommendations are for those countries to study it in more detail."

Many in the medical profession say up to 11 per cent of children around the globe suffer from varying degrees of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attention deficit disorder (ADD).

At risk of being diagnosed are children displaying impulsive or inappropriate behaviours coupled with a lack of ability to focus.

Many doctors warn that without treatment, sufferers could become social outcasts who may even turn to substance abuse or crime.

But the UN committee's reports show there is a growing concern that children's human rights are being violated when these drugs are prescribed. The reports are directed at Australia, Finland and Denmark, whose turn it was to appear before the committee this year to demonstrate they are complying with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Canada is next scheduled to appear before the committee in 2008.

The committee hears evidence submitted not only by diplomats from the countries being interviewed, but also from activist groups.

"The committee is ... concerned at the information that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit disorder are being misdiagnosed and, therefore, psycho-stimulant drugs are being over-prescribed, despite the growing evidence of the harmful effects of these drugs.

"The committee recommends that further research be undertaken on the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD and ADD, including the possible negative effects of psycho-stimulants on the physical and psychological well-being of children, and that other forms of management and treatment are used as much as possible to address these behavioural disorders."

The committee's conclusions follow a resolution by the Council of Europe, a 48-nation body that in part monitors human rights violations, which expressing its concern over the use of drugs for treatment of ADHD.

"When the Council of Europe makes a resolution you can pretty well be sure that the information is relatively accurate," said Mr. Parfitt, a former deputy ombudsman for British Columbia, and one of 18 independent experts on the committee.

Health Canada recently asked all makers of drugs used to treat ADHD to submit data from all clinical trials and post-marketing reports by the end of 2005 for review, according to the Citizens' Commission on Human Rights, which the Church of Scientology established in 1969 to "investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights."

"There is no brain scan, blood test, X-ray or 'chemical imbalance' test to verify the existence of so-called ADHD," said Brian Beaumont, spokesman for the commission's Vancouver chapter.

The commission said Health Canada will review the following drugs: Concerta, Adderall XR, Dexadrine, Ritalin and Attenade.