US study links Ritalin to cancer

By Tom Noble
Health editor
March 3, 2005
Ritalin, the widely prescribed drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactive disorder in children, appears to cause genetic damage that is linked to cancer, according to a US study.The study's authors, from the Anderson Cancer Centre at the University of Texas, say they want the study repeated because of the alarming results. The study showed the levels of chromosome damage increased two to threefold in all 12 children studied after only three months on the drug.Royal Children's Hospital pediatrician Daryl Efron said parents should not overreact to the study. "If your child is doing well on Ritalin I wouldn't take them off based on this evidence. (But) It can't be ignored. Obviously there needs to be a larger sample to make more sense of it."He said Ritalin had been widely used since the 1980s and there was no data to show higher cancer rates among patients. About one in 200 Australian children take the drug.