Does NC really have more ADHD than any other state?
at the 2012 CHADD conference in San Francisco, Dr. Hinshaw told an rapt audience that his UC-Berkley psychology lab showed that the highest prevalence of ADHD among children was found in states that had implemented achievement-based testing for promotion from one grade to another. In other words, when children were required to pass a state-mandated test to go to the next grade level, more ADHD was discovered (as the likely culprit for failure).
Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler admits to being wildly ADD!
ADDA board retreat
I’m in Philadelphia PA this weekend at the ADDA Board of Directors retreat (ADDA is the largest support organization for adults with ADHD – http://add.org) and it’s pretty exciting to be involved in the “bigger picture.” There is talk of advocating for ADHD adults like us in the workplace – helping employers understand our need for relatively simple accommodations.
Shortage of ADHD drugs
We can’t get our ADD meds and we’re losing focus faster than a defective camera lens. What gives?
First, everyone (OK, doctors) convinced us that we should take meds for our ADD. So we get our prescription filled, our brains come to attention, we get things done and then … and then … no medication!!!!
Is it a conspiracy? Is it corporate manipulation? Is it ghosts on Halloween?
Warning! Doctors can sell your Rx history to Big Pharma
In yet another consumer-bashing move, the US Supreme Court ruled June 23, 2011, that pharmaceutical companies may now purchase lists of the drugs that individual doctors prescribe (without the name of the patient) for marketing purposes.
The ruling was made using the First Amendment Freedom of Speech argument that if researchers and journalist were allowed to gather such records, then marketers deserved equal access. Um, this doesn’t exactly seem like freedom of speech to me. It’s more like data mining. And that pretty much sucks.
Warnings on generics: Supreme Court rules against consumers
But what about our safety and our right to full disclosure? Is the tradeoff for cheaper prescription prices an incomplete warning label about a potentially long-term, debilitating neurological condition? In this case, apparently so.
What does this mean for generic manufacturers? That they may skip merrily down the road producing medications that may or may not negatively impact the end user without telling us about newly-discovered problems.
What does this mean for ADD medications? It means “caveat emptor” – let the buyer beware. The drugs that are “off patent” may or may not have new, serious side effects. But if we take a generic we’ll never know, because there is no requirement that we be told about them. And now, no way to seek legal recourse against the company that produced the drug.