Ritalin Lawsuit and Side
Effect Information

This wonder drug prompted the filing of many a Ritalin lawsuit across the country. Although the suits were dismissed, concern still continues about Ritalin side effects...

Ritalin Overview

Ritalin (methylphenidate), made by Novartis, is an amphetamine like stimulant of the central nervous system. It's used extensively in treating attention deficit disorder and narcolepsy, but is also turning in good results for cancer-related fatigue. A Schedule II controlled substance, it has a high potential for abuse.

Ritalin is available in sustained or extended release forms and now in a transdermal patch (Daytrana) and is sold under various brand names such as Ritalin SR, Ritalin LA, Metadate ER, Metadate CD, Methylin ER and Concerta. On the street it is called West Coast and Vitamin R, and using it is called "pharming."

Ritalin has been around in one form or another since 1944 and then went through several evolutions and refinements in 1950 and 1954 when it was tested on humans. In the early years, there were no Ritalin lawsuits.

By 1957 Ciba Pharmaceutical marketed this drug as capable of treating narcolepsy, depression, chronic fatigue, depression related psychosis and to counteract the sedating effects of other medicines. It was used in the 1960s to counteract barbiturate overdose symptoms.

The drug was also actually sold as a stimulating tonic combined with hormones and vitamins and called Ritonic. It was supposed to improve one's mood and increase vitality.

In the late 50s and early 60s research was conducted to see if Ritalin would work on hyperkinetic syndrome, aka Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The drug looked promising and sales began to pick up. So much so, that between 1991 and 1999 alone, Ritalin sales in the US jumped by 500 percent. The late 90s saw the beginnings of people thinking about filing a Ritalin lawsuit.

Today statistics from the United Nations indicate that not only does the US produce a good portion of the world's supply of Ritalin, it consumes it as well - up to 85 percent of the total production. Highly startling figures.

Even more worthy of concern is the potential to abuse this product by crushing the tablets and snorting them or dissolving them in water for injecting. The abuse potential is one of the major reasons Sweden took Ritalin off the market in 1968.

Abusing Ritalin has also become a major concern in the United States. Stories are circulating of children selling their prescriptions to classmates, and parents taking their children to doctors to get Ritalin then using or selling the drugs themselves.

College students allegedly use the drug during exam time or for recreational purposes. Because this drug is so popular not many people think about Ritalin lawsuits.

Ritalin Side Effects & Other Problems

Ritalin's side effects are largely dose dependent, the higher the dose the higher the tolerance to the drug. For low doses the common side effects include headaches, heightened alertness, suppressed appetite, irregular/rapid heartbeat, vomiting, nausea, skin rashes, wakefulness, euphoria and impairment of voluntry movement.

At higher doses Ritalin side effects include agitation, muscle twitching, exhilaration/excitation, dilated pupils, flushing, hallucinations, paranoia, confusion, high blood pressure and pulse rate, seizures leading to coma, fever, sweating, anxiety, excessive repetitive movements and the sensation of bugs crawling under the skin.

Most of the above symptoms happen on attempts to withdraw from the drug. Other withdrawal symptoms include obsessive cravings for the drug along with panic at not being able to get it.

Lawsuits of note against Novartis have been and are for:

* Wrongful Dismissal Law Suit - Famvir, genital herpes drug. Novartis fraudulently inflated the price of the drug and then fired the employee who complained about it.
* Class Action Lawsuit - discrimination in employment, $100 million in damages sought
* Watson Pharmaceutical - Exelon/rivastigmine tartrate for Alzheimer's, patent infringement
* Elidel - treating skin conditions and it caused cancer
* Zelnorm/tegaserod maleate - Irritable Bowel Syndrome, increased 10 fold the risks of heart attacks and strokes. Taken off market in 2007.
* Class Action Lawsuit - Novartis employees wrongly denied overtime
* Pfizer - Zithromax/antibiotic - patent infringement
* Class Action Lawsuit - Novartis employees, 19 women in gender discrimination suit
* Schering AG - Novartis breached contract pertaining to US production of MS medicine Betaseron
* Aredia/Zometa - bisphosphonates for osteoporosis causing osteonecrosis or Dead Jaw
* Medicaid - fraudulently inflated drug prices
* Baby Bottle Class Action - manufacturer was aware that the chemical bisphenol A, used to make plastic hard and shatterproof, would pose serious risks to infants and children by leaking from baby bottles and sippy cups
* Trileptal - epilepsy drug causing Stevens-Johnson Syndrome

Ritalin Lawsuits

There were actually five Ritalin class action lawsuits filed in various states in 2000. They were dismissed by the end of 2002. This doesn't mean if you have been seriously harmed by Ritalin side effects that you don't have grounds for a Ritalin lawsuit.

It does mean the grounds for the class action lawsuits were dismissed. Those grounds alleged the makers of Ritalin and the American Psychiatric Association entered a conspiracy to invent attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and cross promote Ritalin to treat it.

There are possible grounds for a Ritalin lawsuit based on the side effects alone: heart attacks, strokes, hypertension and sudden deaths. These side effects have been added by the FDA as a black box warning.

If you feel you have been harmed by Ritalin side effects, contact a dangerous drug attorney to discuss your concerns. Your potential case will be assessed and you will be advised on whether or not you should file a Ritalin lawsuit.




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