Class action suits target Ritalin.

Class action lawsuits have been filed in California, New Jersey, and Texas against the New Jersey pharmaceutical company that manufactures Ritalin, the prescription medication used to treat attention deficit disorders in children.

Psychiatrist Peter Breggin is the medical consultant for the plaintiffs, parents of children who have used the drug. "In the Ritalin suits, just as in the tobacco suits, a major concern is the pushing of addictive drugs on America's children," he said.

The lawsuits allege that beginning in the 1950s, the pharmaceutical company Ciba-Geigy Corp., now Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., and the American Psychiatric Association conspired to create the diagnosis of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The suits say that the company and the nonprofit association "deliberately, intentionally, and negligently" encouraged the diagnosis of the disorders and promoted Ritalin, known generically as methylphenidate hydrochloride, as the drug choice for treatment. The suits also claim that Novartis used misleading advertising that focused on the drug's benefits and glossed over its side effects, including cardiovascular problems, gastrointestinal disorders, pituitary dysfunction, psychosis, and addiction, in an effort to boost Ritalin sales and profits.

The suits also name as a defendant a Maryland-based national nonprofit organization known as Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD). The plaintiffs allege that the organization conspired with Novartis and the psychiatric association to reduce legal restrictions on Ritalin's use.

Two suits filed in September in California and New Jersey join a third suit, which was filed in Texas in May. They seek compensatory damages to reimburse plaintiffs for the cost of Ritalin purchases regardless of whether the drug caused injury, as well as punitive damages and an order that would require the drug maker to disclose Ritalin's side effects. (Vess v. Ciba-Geigy Corp., No. 00-CV-1839 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 13, 2000); Dawson v. Ciba-Geigy Corp., No. BER-L-7774-00 (N.J, Bergen County Super. Ct. Sept. 13, 2000); Hernandez v. Ciba-Geigy Corp., No. 2000-051888D (Tex., Cameron County Dist. Ct. May 1, 2000).)

Plaintiff attorney C. Andrew Waters, who is a partner with Waters & Kraus in Dallas, said the litigation will be costly for the plaintiffs because Novartis will pull out all the stops to save its Ritalin profits. Waters & Kraus is involved in all three class actions.

Although the suits focus on the over-medication of children, the class action is not restricted to children. Adults who have taken Ritalin may be eligible to join. "We anticipate that additional class actions, as well as a number of individual cases, will be filed in the next several months," Waters said.

In addition to Waters, plaintiff lawyers involved in the suits include Frank Costilla of Brownsville, Texas; Steven Knowlton of Teaneck, New Jersey; Donald Hildre of San Diego; Peter Kraus of Dallas; Charles Siegal of Dallas; and Richard Scruggs of Pascagoula, Mississippi.