Ritalin prescripti

Feb. 3 (Associated Press) — Prescription rates for Ritalin and similar attention deficit disorder drugs — both widely praised and widely maligned — vary dramatically across the nation, new research indicates.

While the prevalence of the disorder is not thought to vary greatly by region, a study being released Monday found that treatment rates ranged from 1.6 percent of children’s prescriptions examined in Washington, D.C., to 6.5 percent of children’s prescriptions in Louisiana. Significantly higher rates were found in the South and Midwest than in the West.

Overall, about 4 percent of prescriptions examined for children ages 5 to 14 in 1999 were for stimulants including Ritalin.

The study, appearing in February’s issue of Pediatrics, was done by researchers at Express Scripts Inc., a Missouri-based pharmacy benefits management company. The researchers reviewed a nationally representative sample of company prescription claims for 178,800 children throughout 1999. The claims were for all types of medication.

OVERUSE OR UNDERUSE?

Lead researcher Emily Cox and colleagues said that while they did not determine if higher prescription rates represented overuse or if lower rates represented underuse, “both may be occurring.”

The variations should be examined “to reduce the risk to children from unnecessary drug therapy as well as the negative health and emotional consequences to children with untreated medical conditions,” the researchers said.

Critics of excessive use of such drugs, including some doctors, have worried that the dr