When a psychiatrist pens his signature to a prescription for Ritalin for a child, he is effectively taking away that child’s future. He might just as well be signing a death warrant.
A 2010 Australian study conducted on children using Ritalin and other amphetamine-like drugs for ADHD — the world’s first long term research on this — showed that these children were ten times more likely to perform poorly at school than youngsters who avoided medication.
These children also had significantly higher blood pressure at age fourteen than children who had never taken drugs. They therefore have a much higher risk of heart attack or stroke in adulthood.
“Parents will be furious they have been conned into giving their children…amphetamines,” said West Australian Labor MP Martin Whitely, who welcomed the report. “No responsible parent would knowingly increase their child’s chances of academic failure.”
