FDA Panel Made 'Brave Effort' To Urge Risk Warning On ADHD Medications, New York Times Editorial States

Main Category: ADHD
Article Date: 18 Feb 2006 - 20:00 PDT

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An FDA advisory panel's recommendation last week that black box labels for some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drugs should warn about potential cardiovascular risks "is best understood as a response to an alarming upsurge in use of stimulants that many have deemed unwarranted," a New York Times editorial states. The recommendation was a "brave effort" by the panel "to slow the drug promotion juggernaut that frequently drives use beyond reasonable bounds," the editorial says. According to the editorial, some FDA officials and psychiatrists were concerned the recommendation would "scare people away from potentially beneficial therapy" if the panel "issue[d] too strong a warning based on uncertain evidence." However, the editorial says, "[T]he prime function of a strong warning label is to force doctors to think twice before prescribing," and "[t]hat is presumably salutary even if it does depress drug sales a bit." The editorial concludes, "The renegade advisory panel was right to throw its weight against this trend" (New York Times, 2/12).

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