FDA demands tougher warnings on stimulants

The FDA has ordered drug makers to warn physicians away from prescribing stimulants like Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta to adults and children with heart problems, according to a report in The New York Times. The agency is also warning that the drugs are linked to hallucinations experienced by one in a thousand children. "We're not trying to scare people out of using these drugs," said Dr. Robert J. Temple, director of the Office of Medical Policy at the drug agency. "Still, I would be extremely reluctant to put people with heart failure on one of these drugs." The warnings, which aren't as strict as an advisory committee suggested earlier this year, come after regulators determined that a number of people with heart defects died suddenly after taking the drugs.

- read this article [1] from MarketWatch on the FDA's action

PLUS: Glaxo has added stronger warnings to the label on its ADHD drug Dexedrine. Report [2]