Career stimulation in a bottle It has been a while since I wrote anything about the ADD family of illnesses, a group of conditions I'm convinced have been largely made up by drug companies and mainstream head-shrinkers bent on expanding their sphere of profits and relevance. In the past, I've written about how the diagnosis of these "diseases" can not only stigmatize kids for life, but also create in them a cycle of drug addiction that can prove difficult or impossible to break, even well into adulthood. Prophetically (and tragically), this is proving to be true. Back in June of 2002, I wrote in my newsletter about a modern surge in the diagnosis of Adult Attention Deficit Disorder, and now a recent Associated Press story is confirming a similar trend: "Ritalin Kids" not wanting to give up their drugs once they've outgrown their "disease." According to the article, as many kids of the ADD/ADHD epidemic are growing up into addled adults, an increasing number of them are finding that their addiction, er, affliction may last a lifetime. Consequently, the medications for this condition - drugs like Ritalin and Aderall - are becoming increasingly common in the workplace. And in more and more cases, doctors are agreeing and health insurance carriers are footing the bills. This is exactly what the drug makers want - grown-ups with employer-provided insurance convinced that they can't function without the drugs they grew up taking needlessly for a made-up disease! The AP article highlights two such cases (far too sympathetically, I might add - perhaps the less-than-objective author is hiding a Ritalin bottle in her purse?), one who has been treated for the disease since childhood, and the other who was formally diagnosed in his late 30s. Both patients credit the ongoing use of ADD drugs for saving their careers. A few months ago, I wrote to you about how bootleg ADD medications were becoming the drug of choice on college campuses to help cramming kids study and focus more effectively. The AP piece estimates that 20% of college kids have abused these drugs, either for academic performance enhancement or to simply get high (they are stimulants, remember). The use of Aderall or Ritalin as a career-booster is simply the next logical step in the evolution of this epidemic of addiction. It probably won't be long before everyone who's employed considers ADD stimulant use a necessity to remain competitive in their careers. It may already be happening: Sales of Aderall ballooned 40% from 2003 to 2004, and continued to grow in the last year, despite having been pulled from the Canadian market amid reports of fatalities linked to the drug. I also wonder how long it'll be before every workplace in America has a wall-mounted dispenser of the pills right next to the time-clock. **************************************************** Prescriptions for preschoolers? Those greedy drug companies. It isn't enough that they've got 12 million or more American adults popping statin drugs for cholesterol control. Now they want to start getting kids hooked on these hazardous chemicals as well. According to a recent Reuters Health online article, a drug study conducted at the University of Helsinki in Finland concluded that kids as young as FOUR YEARS OLD could safely take pravastatin, one of the most commonly prescribed medications for high cholesterol in adults. Ostensibly, the study is aimed at helping kids with a relatively rare congenital disorder called familial hypercholesterolemia. But I know what's really going on here… The drug makers are setting the stage to start pumping overweight kids full of the same drugs their parents are on! And with today's absurdly low cholesterol guidelines, even a lot of perfectly healthy kids will likely get rushed to the doctor for a lifelong dose of statin therapy. Sickening, isn't it? Now, the Reuters piece doesn't say who funded the study, but I'm betting it's one of the major drug makers. Most University drug studies are privately funded, since few colleges have endowments large enough to pay for their own studies… But they're still 100% objective, right? Sure. ADDing up the addled truth, William Campbell Douglass II, MD | 
