CHILDREN'S DRUG MIGHT CAUSE CANCER IN MICE.

Byline: Associated Press

Government scientists have uncovered a sign that the widely used children's drug Ritalin might cause cancer in mice. But they said Friday that parents should not stop giving their children the drug, used to treat hyperactivity, based on such weak findings.

"We felt physicians and parents should know this and have a right to know this," explained Dr. Murray Lumpkin, the Food and Drug Administration's deputy drug director. "But it's not enough of a signal that we think kids should be taken off the drug."

Ritalin is widely prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, a neurological condition that leaves children and teen-agers restless, easily distracted and sometimes aggressive. As many as 2.5 million children are thought to have ADHD. It is more common in boys than girls and sometimes persists to adulthood.

Ritalin is the brand name of the brain stimulant methylphenidate. Some 6 million prescriptions for the generic and brand-name versions were filled in 1993, the latest data available.

Ritalin has been sold for 40 years, but it came on the market before drug makers were required to test for carcinogenicity. The National Toxicology Program, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, routinely tests such older drugs for possible risks.