Do you have ADHD? Take this quiz (courtesy of this morning’s Wall Street Journal) to find out. If you’re like me, you may discover that you do. Of course, you may want to ask yourself this question after taking the quiz: Who isn’t easily distracted; doesn’t allow their mind to wander during boring conversations; or doesn’t engage in endless multi-tasking while leaving many projects unfinished?
A confidential document, now made public by a Swedish court, tells how pharmaceutical companies (calling themselves the “Consortium”) are trying to stop long-term safety studies of ADHD drugs (Ritalin, Concerta)
On January 29, 2010, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) issued a formal statement that it is “seriously concerned about studies that indicate the rapid increase within a short period of time the prescription of psycho-stimulants such as Ritalin and Concerta to children diagnosed with ADHD.”
Already, the explosive growth in online advertising has intensified public concerns: the pharmaceutical industry spent more than $1 billion on Internet ads last year and is projected to spend $1.7 billion on such marketing efforts in 2012…
When asking the question, “Who is responsible?” there is at least one name that stands out. Dr. Joseph Biederman of Harvard University. Biederman is a very high-profile doctor that spear-headed the outbreak of children on psychiatric drugs. Biederman reportedly received $1.6 million from drug makers between 2000 and 2006. However, he failed to report most of this to his university, which may well have considered this to be a conflict of interest.