Treating Problem Children with Stimulant Drugs

MORE than 150,000 children with behavior or learning problems are now being treated with stimulant drugs, with the number apparently increasing rapidly as proposals for massive screening begin to appear.1 2 3 4 5 Since the prevalence of hyperactivity is about 5 per cent of children in elementary school,6 and that of specific reading disability 3 per cent,7 there is a very large population of children who might be treated in this way. We believe that the use of stimulant drugs should be critically appraised before society moves farther in this direction.The literature on the short-term effects of stimulant medication with problem children . . .