/24-7PressRelease/
- SWEDEN, October 29, 2005 - From the depths of the
archives at the Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA)
some astonishing papers have emerged. Papers showing
that Ritalin, prescribed to children with the diagnosis
ADHD, causes depression and has led to suicides and
suicide attempts.
The MPA knew about these disastrous effects when
approving Ritalin for sales in Sweden June 15 this year.
No warnings were given to physicians or the public.
FDA announced June 28 that Ritalin and other
methylphenidate drugs had been linked to "visual
hallucinations, suicidal ideation, psychotic behavior,
as well as aggression or violent behaviour". Nothing was
said about suicides or suicide attempts.
The narcotic drug Ritalin has been withdrawn from the
Swedish market for 37 years - since the abuse
catastrophe in the 60-ties. But Swedish psychiatrists
have in recent years demanded the right to prescribe
Ritalin and other stimulants to children - with the
false pretence that the narcotic drug for children with
the diagnosis ADHD would work as insulin for persons
with diabetes. The expert child psychiatrist at the MPA
has led the campaign; he has assured the public there
are no serious short-term or long-term side effects from
stimulant treatment of children.
When the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK) 2003 tried to get approval for children for its
blockbuster drug Seroxat (Paxil) it was revealed that
the company already five years earlier had known that
the drug increased the suicide risk in children. This
exposure led to the disapproval of the application and
the British authorities instead banned Seroxat - should
not be prescribed to children.
History seemed to be repeating itself when
pharmaceutical company Novartis in 2004 was seeking
approval for Ritalin for children in Sweden - a country
in the unique position of having banned the drug already
in the 60-ties. Novartis had not for many years had
reason to turn in documentation in other countries, but
they had to do it in Sweden. And in the submitted
documents (written already year 2000!) it is under the
heading SUICIDE revealed: "it is known that Ritalin
therapy and its sudden discontinuation may cause
depression in some patients..."
Under the same heading Novartis is also revealing: "A
search of the Novartis international safety data base
allowed the identification of 21 cases of attempted
suicide and six suicides, in addition to 25 reports of
suicidal ideations in patient aged 6-48 years, 56% of
whom were children aged less than 16 years."
But unlike the British authorities in the Seroxat case
the Swedish MPA didn't come to the defence of the
children. Instead the MPA in June 2005 approved Ritalin,
and covered up the information about suicides and
suicide attempts! The public or physicians didn't get
any warnings.
And now the MPA has taken one step further: declared
that the document telling about the suicides is
classified information. It is decided, "the
pharmaceutical company in question can be harmed" if
access is granted to the documentation.
The agency supposed to be for the public is, under
pressure from psychiatrists and a pharmaceutical
company, approving a narcotic drug that can cause
depression and suicide. It is then hiding the disastrous
results to protect the company.
This medical scandal also involves the FDA. The agency
can be expected to have known about the deadly effects
of Ritalin - but did not act. What is buried in the
files of the FDA? |
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