While ADHD is indeed a recognized condition in both adults and children, many question the use of Ritalin and other drugs to "treat" it, especially in children and teenagers. A scientific study funded by the FDA and the National Institute for Mental Health demonstrated that Ritalin use increased the risk of sudden death in that demographic by a whopping 500 percent. Yet the FDA still insists that the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks.

If you said "What?" to yourself after reading that last paragraph you are not alone. There are no credible scientific studies that prove that Ritalin and drugs like it offer any benefit to children and teens diagnosed with ADHD. Studies show that Ritalin stunts growth in young children and impairs brain development. But hey, who wants smart kids anyway?

Perhaps the bureaucrats at the FDA should ask Rick and Ann Hohmann if the benefits outweigh the risks. Back in 2004 their otherwise healthy 14-year-old son was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Adderall XR to treat it. On October 21st of that same year he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and promptly collapsed to the floor. When Rick went to his aid the child's lips were blue, and he was not responsive.

His dad tried CPR as did the paramedics who arrived at the scene. But it was too late, Matthew Hohmann was dead. The official cause of death was listed as "sudden cardiac death, myocarditis"

His parents blame the drug, and it was their hope that when the FDA-backed study was released back in June of 2009 that the medical community would sit up and take notice. Not just yet.

The strangest thing is that Ritalin, Adderall, and other drugs used to treat ADHD are amphetamine stimulants. You know that stuff that your mother used to warn you about--speed? If the police catch your teenager selling or buying speed in a dark alley, arrest is likely. But if his doctor prescribes him Ritalin to treat his ADHD it’s cool.

So who really benefits from all these prescriptions if it’s not the kids? The drug companies of course. With 5% of the US school age population taking drugs for ADHD every day, they are making a fortune. So perhaps what the FDA meant to say was the benefits outweigh the risks to drug company profits.

Before you decide that this is an "anti-government" or "reactionary" statement, consider this. Ephedra is an herbal supplement that a few desperately overweight people took way too much of in a desperate bid to lose weight and they too died. The FDA jumped right in on that one, banning the substance from being sold stating that "the risks outweighed the benefits." And of course Big Pharma never made a dime off Ephedra supplements so it was no big loss in the grand scale of things.

The problem is that parents trust their children's doctors, and in many cases their children's schools. It is often a well-meaning school nurse who first suggests that an unruly child be assessed for ADHD. Dutiful parents trot off to the psychiatrist who gives them a prescription to fill that should solve the problem. They fill it because the doctor and the government would never allow their precious child to be given a dangerous drug.

In 2008 the American Heart Association made a recommendation that children who are prescribed stimulant amphetamines should undergo an electrocardiogram before taking them. So far their advice has been ignored, too.