Heart exam, EKG recommended before children get ADHD drugs

Children should be screened for heart problems with an electrocardiogram before getting drugs like Ritalin to treat hyperactivity and attention-deficit disorder, the American Heart Association recommended Monday.

Stimulant drugs can increase blood pressure and heart rate. For most children, that isn't a problem. But in those with heart conditions, it could make them more vulnerable to sudden cardiac arrest — an erratic heartbeat that causes the heart to stop pumping blood through the body — and other heart problems.

Source, and full AP Wire Service article: SF Chronicle, April 21, 2008

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Duh, you would think that would be a clue that maybe those toxins shouldn't be given to our children. But nooooooooooo, the Pharmaceutical Drug Cartel rules!

And if the child *doesn't* have a heart problem--the damage these drugs do will set that child up for cardiac damage that manifests itself many years later, giving the Pharmaceutical Drug Cartel plenty of other arguable things to point the finger at and slime their way out of responsibility once again.

TLC