Opposing Digits

The numbers cited by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for possible attention deficit drug-related deaths and injuries represent a gross understatement of statistics. The truth is that these drugs are responsible for and endless stream of deaths and injuries all over the country.

According to the latest investigation by the FDA, in the four year period between 1999 and 2003, there were twenty-five deaths in persons using Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) drugs, 19 of which were children. Officials also acknowledged that more than 50 cases of cardiovascular problems had been reported, including stoke, heart attack, hypertension, palpitations and arrhythmia. There are many more documented adverse events caused by these drugs and the FDA knows it.

For instance, on November 20, 1986, after being on Ritalin since the third grade, fourteen-year-old Rod Mathews lured a classmate, Shawn Ouillette, into a wooded area near his home in Canton, Massachusetts, under the pretense of a plan to build a snow fort, and beat him to death with a baseball bat.

Although he had no prior history of violence, Rod beat Shawn until he died and just left the body in the woods. Rod took 2 friends to see the body, and threatened them with the same fate if they told anyone about the murder.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:07 PM