'Stop giving Ritalin to well children'

More than 200,000 children in the UK are being prescribed a "potentially deadly" drug for a "non-existent" brain disorder, a scientist will warn today.

Ritalin, the drug which is increasingly being prescribed to children suffering autistic disorders, has been recommended for youngsters with severe hyperactivity by a Government body.

However, US neurologist Dr Fred Baughman, will tell a conference today that Ritalin is addictive, has dangerous side-effects and is being prescribed to children who have nothing wrong with them. He will dispute the very existence of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), the condition often diagnosed by pyschiatrists when prescribing Ritalin.

Dr Baughman will also call for more research into a possible link between use of the drug and heart-related deaths.

Ritalin - chemical name methylphenidate - is a psychostimulant said to have a calming effect on children. Use of the amphetamine-based drug has risen by almost 40 per cent in three years.

Dr Baughman, speaking at a conference in memory of clinical psychiatrist Professor Steve Baldwin, who was killed in the Selby rail crash, said: "There is no evidence of ADHD and no objective test for it. It is not justifiable to put a child who has no demonstrable disease on drugs known to be addictive and sometimes deadly."

Dr Baughman has criticised methods of diagnosing ADHD which include questions such as: Does your child fidget or squirm? Have difficulty remaining seated? Blurt out answers to questions before they have been completed? Have difficulty playing quietly? Talk excessively? Dr Baughman said the number of deaths which could be related to Ritalin are "vastly underestimated".

He said 186 heart related-deaths in children using methylphenidate had been reported in America between 1990 and 1999. However, he said the real number could be 10 times higher. Dr Baughman has investigated seven of the deaths, which include a 13-year-old boy who died during a gym class and who was found to have an enlarged heart.

However, Dr Sam Tucker, a consultant paediatrician at Hillingdon Hospital, described Dr Baughman's as "totally ignorant", adding: "It is criminal to avoid helping children who have this neurochemical abnormality."

A spokeswoman for Cephalon which distributes the drug in the UK, said: "Ritalin has been used safely and effectively in the treatment of millions of ADHD patients for more than 40 years and is the most studied drug prescribed for the disorder with over 170 studies completed in more than 6,000 school-aged children."

Department of Health figures reveal 200,900 children in the UK were prescribed methylphenidate drugs last year.