LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Ritalin: Novartis Ag
built 277 days ago
Without getting into the pros and cons of using Ritalin, this article is misleading on a number of points. First, the author misleads when she suggests that parental approval is paramount in a child's life. Parental approval is essential, of course, but it has been shown that developmentally, at a certain age, peer and societal approval supercede that of the parents' in a child's eyes. Therefore, the child's ability to function in school, and his social standing vis a vis his peers should be very highly weighted when making any decisions regarding the child. Second, the Rabbi quoted misleads when he presents character development as the ultimate goal in Judaism. The ultimate goal in Judaism is attaining "chochmah" or wisdom, which is the combination of knowledge and character development.
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History seemed to be repeating itself when pharmaceutical company Novartis in 2004 was seeking approval for Ritalin for children in Sweden - a country in the unique position of having banned the drug already in the 60-ties. Novartis had not for many years had reason to turn in documentation in other countries, but they had to do it in Sweden. And in the submitted documents (written already year 2000!) it is under the heading SUICIDE revealed: "it is known that Ritalin therapy and its sudden discontinuation may cause depression in some patients..."
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About 20 percent of the organization's budget in some years reportedly was underwritten by Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis), the maker of Ritalin. ("ADD - a Dubious Diagnosis?" PBS and the Merrow Report. [cited Dec. 20, 1995] <http://www.add-adhd.org/ritalin_CHADD_A.D.D.html>)
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Others agreed that Ritalin should be considered on a case-by-case basis. "It is well known that ADHD has its onset usually between 3 to 4 years of age, so it is only reasonable if behavioral and psychosocial interventions fail that we consider the use of psychostimulants such as Ritalin, as this intervention is successful at least 70 percent of the time," said Dr. Jon A. Shaw, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "It's a cost/benefit decision that parents have to judiciously consider, weighing the risk of side effects and the benefits of helping a child to control himself/herself."
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The answer for many families to a relative's diagnosis of ADHD soon became a prescription for the drug marketed as Ritalin by the company Novartis. Although many side effects were noted for Ritalin, they were often glossed over for and by families who were simply anxious to solve their children's behavioral and emotional problems.
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Marked anxiety, tension, and agitation are contraindications to Ritalin, since the drug may aggravate these symptoms. Ritalin is contraindicated ... in patients known to be hypersensitive to the drug, in patients with glaucoma, and in patients with motor tics or with a family history or diagnosis of Tourette’s syndrome.
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