Fraud fears over Ritalin

We have this report from New Zealand. Remember, this is the same stuff that is supposed to be helping your kids.

Police fear doctors are being duped by drug peddlers into dishing out Ritalin prescriptions, which have skyrocketed in the past five years.

Police say abuse of Ritalin, often dubbed "poor man's speed", is rife in Christchurch and some doctors have got a name among "druggies" as easy targets for supplying the drug.

Pharmac figures released to The Press show 11,524 prescriptions for methylphenidate – the chemical name for drugs such as Ritalin – were issued in Canterbury in the year to June. This is 4000 prescriptions more than in 2001.

Canterbury issues more Ritalin prescriptions than any other region in New Zealand, with Waitemata the next closest at 6931.

Detective Sergeant Greg Murton, of the Christchurch drug squad, said Ritalin was "one of the most abused prescription medicines available".

Some Christchurch doctors were known by offenders and police as easy targets for Ritalin prescriptions.

He declined to identify those doctors and said police had not yet targeted them in a bid to stem the trade, although this could be considered.

"Some doctors give it out willy-nilly," Murton said.

In some cases, parents would get a Ritalin prescription for their children and sell it on.

A 10mg Ritalin tablet could sell for $15, a 20mg tablet for $30 or a card of 10 tablets for $80.

Murton said that this week police dealt with a man who got a Ritalin prescription and one hour later had sold it to drug users.

"The guy we dealt with is a total shambles; a wreck of a human being."

Murton said he had no doubt that doctors targeted by Ritalin abusers thought they were helping their patients.

Pegasus Health clinical leader Dr Graham McGeoch said there were strict rules for prescribing Ritalin.

These included requiring patients to be assessed by a specialist to determine their need for the drug.

The child can then be approved as a Ritalin user and referred to a GP, who must closely monitor the Ritalin use.

The specialist is also required to keep regular tabs on the original drug approval.

"It's hard to see how it (wrongly prescribing Ritalin) could go on for 12 months with more than one doctor involved," McGeoch said.

Doctors would be happy to meet police and discuss their concerns.

In the past, doctors and police had worked out a good system to stem morphine abuse and a similar system could be used for Ritalin.

"Doctors can be vulnerable to people they often feel they are helping, but they get sucked in," McGeoch said.

Drug Arm Christchurch branch manager Geoff Howard said Ritalin could make a big difference in the lives of people who used it properly.

As with any drug, a small group of abusers could create problems, he said.

Pharmac figures show a total of 71,185 prescriptions for methylphenidate were issued nationwide in the year to June.

The population of New Zealand is estimated to be slightly over 4 million, about the same size as Kentucky or South Carolina, and slightly larger than Puerto Rico.