Related Stories
Attention Disorder or Not, Pills to Help in School
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of New York Times
Posted: October 30th, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/health/attention-disorder-...
When Dr. Michael Anderson hears about his low-income patients struggling in elementary school, he usually gives them a taste of some powerful medicine: Adderall. The pills boost focus and impulse control in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Although A.D.H.D is the diagnosis Dr. Anderson makes, he calls the disorder made up and an excuse to prescribe the pills to treat what he considers the childrens true ill poor academic performance in inadequate schools. I dont have a whole lot of choice, said Dr. Anderson, a pediatrician for many poor families in Cherokee County, north of Atlanta. Weve decided as a society that its too expensive to modify the kids environment. So we have to modify the kid. Dr. Anderson is one of the more outspoken proponents of an idea that is gaining interest among some physicians. They are prescribing stimulants to struggling students in schools starved of extra money not to treat A.D.H.D., necessarily, but to boost their academic performance. It is not yet clear whether Dr. Anderson is representative of a widening trend. But some experts note that as wealthy students abuse stimulants to raise already-good grades in colleges and high schools, the medications are being used on low-income elementary school children with faltering grades and parents eager to see them succeed.
Note: For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on pharmaceutical corruption, click here.
Related Stories
Latest News
Key News Articles from Years Past
