Suicide risk urged to go on ADHD medication


American paediatric health advisers are among a group of consultants to the Food and Drug Administration urging them to add a risk of suicide thoughts as a common side effect to the drug Focalin a medication used as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) which is currently approved to be prescribed to children as young as 6 years of age.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, in a period of 6 years between 2005 and 2011 they only received 8 reports of suicidal thoughts for children and teenagers who had been taking the medication with only 4 cases reportedly being directly linked to the consumption of the medication. Therefore the link according to the FDA is not definitive.

However other researchers, psychologists and committee members are concerned that the risk of suicide thought should be added to the label of Focalin the made by Swiss drug maker Novartis AG in order that doctors and paediatricians are aware of the potential side effects so can select the appropriate medication for each individual based on their medical and psychological history.

However in the report there was no mention of other means of dealing with the behavioural condition such as moderating diet, parental training, teaching support or emotional freedom technique, which if implicated correctly have all been found to have a positive impact on symptoms of ADHD with significantly less chance if any of instigating suicidal thought in young children.

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