FIRST LADY RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT MOOD DRUGS AND TOTS

Mrs. Clinton announces White House initiative for research, education

WASHINGTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton used the power of the White House
bully pulpit to call attention yesterday to a troubling matter for parents
of preschoolers -- the use of Ritalin and other mind-altering drugs to
change youngsters' behavior.

The first lady, who is also campaigning for a U.S. Senate seat in New York,
announced several federal initiatives after a White House meeting with
Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala, Surgeon General David
Satcher and other child and health leaders.

"We are not here to bash the use of these medications," said Clinton.

"But we do have to ask some serious questions about the use of prescription
drugs."

FDA Guidelines Sought

She outlined a plan to ask the Food and Drug Administration to issue
guidelines for use of such drugs for children younger than 6.

She also proposed more clinical trials on the young, a fall conference on
children's mental health, handbooks for parents and training for doctors
who treat their children.

Clinton later dismissed questions about whether the White House event was
intended primarily to bolster her Senate campaign in New York against New
York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, her presumed Republican rival.

He, too, has been accused of campaigning from city hall.

"I've worked on these issues for more than 30 years," Clinton said. "I'm
going to keep working on them."

But taking the lead on family issues from Washington could give the first
lady an advantage in her new home state, said political scientist Griffin
Hathaway of Towson University.

"The White House platform is the most visible in the country," Hathaway
said. "With an unprecedented congressional campaign by an incumbent first
lady, that magnet is even more amplified."

But there are risks, he said: "If the policy initiatives have not worked,
that can generate backlash."

Lack Of Adequate Research

Clinton said she was motivated by research showing a steep climb in the
number of toddlers being medicated without adequate research into what
works best for children still undergoing crucial brain development.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, usually is diagnosed in
school-age children based on interviews and observed behavior.

Symptoms include a restless inability to sit still to read, study or even
watch television. Some mild forms of these symptoms are common in many
children, leading experts to worry that ADHD is diagnosed too often.

"Some of these young people have problems that are symptoms of nothing more
than childhood or adolescence," Clinton said.

Prescriptions Triple

The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that from 1991 to
1995, doctors' prescriptions for 2- to-4-year-olds jumped threefold for
Ritalin, a common brand name for the stimulant methylphenidate.

The drug is believed to increase a child's alertness by stimulating the
central nervous system.

The number of children on anti-depressants such as Prozac, often used to
control bed-wetting, doubled in that time period.

Behavior therapy can be more helpful than drugs, said Deborah A. Ziegler,
an expert on behavior disorders for the Council for Exceptional Children, a
suburban Virginia-based advocacy group.