Poison Center Calls for Teen Use of ADHD Drugs Soar

A new study shows a 76-percent increase in calls to poison-control centers regarding teen misuse of prescription drugs intended for treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the Washington Post reported Aug. 24.

Researchers from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center found that calls to American Association of Poison Control Centers facilities reporting misuse of ADHD drugs by teenagers rose from 330 in 1998 to 581 in 2005. During the same span, prescriptions for ADHS drugs rose 86 percent among children ages 10 to 19.

Four fatalities were among the calls, and 42 percent of the teens involved in the calls had moderate to severe side-effects from using the drugs. Researchers did not say how many of the teens were misusing their own prescriptions as opposed to experiencing problems with drugs from another source.

The study was published online in the journal Pediatrics.