Australian Judge who spoke out against Ritalin kids ordered to shut up

This has the smell of political corruption in the Australian legal system. Report from the Daily Telegraph

The judge who accused doctors of creating a generation of Ritalin kids who become criminals has been gagged in an extraordinary move by the state's Judicial Commission.

An ADHD support group which supports the use of drugs like Ritalin complained to the commission that Judge Paul Conlon had got it wrong, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

Judge Conlon criticised the over-diagnosis of ADHD, the over-use of medication and its effect on children.

Instead of dismissing the complaint, as it does in 75 per cent of cases, the commission referred it to Judge Conlon's boss, District Court Chief Judge Reg Blanch. In such cases, the chief judge is expected to counsel the judge or "make administrative arrangements within his or her court" to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Judge Conlon, a former Crown prosecutor, sparked fresh controversy about the use of Ritalin when he made his comments last year during the sentencing of a 20-year-old man who was prescribed the powerful stimulant at the age of six.

Judge Conlon, who jailed the man for 15 months for assault and an act of indecency, was told by a psychiatrist the man had become addicted to methamphetamine because of his Ritalin use.

At the time, the judge said he had huge concerns because of the "amazing tide" of cases coming before him involving people prescribed Ritalin as children who went on to commit violent crimes.

His remarks led to a review of the treatment of ADHD in NSW, which earlier this month reported that it had found no overprescribing of drugs.

However, sources say many doctors refused to co-operate with the study, which had no public input.

Three members of the committee have also served as expert advisers to drug companies, including Novartis, which produces Ritalin. The doctors all declared no conflict of interest.

At the same time, a prominent Sydney psychiatrist, Professor Joseph Rey, wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia that doctors should review their patients' need for the medications.