Drugs given to help manage ADHD can be very effective when they
are prescribed for kids who have been properly diagnosed.
However, when these drugs are prescribed as study aids they can
become addictive and can produce serious cardiac risks. Dr.
William D. Graf, professor of pediatrics and neurology at Yale
University School of Medicine New Haven, CT, and five colleagues
became concerned when they noticed the increasing number of
physicians prescribing ADHD drugs like Ritalin and Adderall- to
perfectly healthy children. The dramatic increase in the number
of children taking stimulants and other "study drugs," as they
are popularly known, seems to back up his anecdotal evidence.
The Yale doctors have publicly taken a position on this topic in
a paper that offers guidance to physicians and discusses the
ethics of prescribing stimulant drugs to children who do not
have ADHD in order to help them do better in school. The paper
suggests that physicians have a moral obligation to prevent
misuse of medication. It co