Study Shows Surge in Calls to Poison Control for ADHD Meds

A new study highlights the misuse of medication for the neurobehavioral disorder in the U.S.

A NEW STUDY IS SOUNDING the alarm about misuse of medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

There were 156,365 calls to poison control centers for people under 20 who were improperly exposed to ADHD medication from 2000 through 2014, according to the study published in the journal Pediatrics. The number of calls surged between 2000 and 2011 before declining slightly between 2011 and 2014.

Overall, call volume increased by 60 percent over the period, says the study's senior author, Gary Smith.

"As the diagnoses and treatment with medication of ADHD have increased in the U.S., these exposures have also increased, which means we really do need to pay more attention … and for different age groups, come up with different strategies to prevent them," says Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

As of 2016, an estimated 6.1 million children between the ages of 2 and 17 had at some point been diagnosed with ADHD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and survey data. About 6 in 10 currently with ADHD took medication to treat the neurobehavioral disorder, which can make it extremely difficult for children to focus or sit still.

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