SCHOOLS BANNED FROM ADVISING USE OF RITALIN

Connecticut Law Reflects A Backlash Against Drug

HARTFORD, Conn. - When Sheila Matthews' son was in first grade, a school
psychologist diagnosed him with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
and gave his parents information on Ritalin.

Matthews refused to put him on the drug. She believed that the boy was
energetic and outgoing but not disruptive, and she suspected that the
school system was trying to medicate him to make it easier for the teachers.

Now the state of Connecticut has weighed in on the side of parents like
Matthews with the first law in the nation to bar teachers, counselors and
other school officials from recommending psychiatric drugs for any child.

The law was approved unanimously by the Legislature and signed by Gov. John
G. Rowland last month. It reflects a growing backlash against what some see
as overuse of Ritalin and other drugs that modify behavior.

The law does not prevent school officials from recommending that a child be
evaluated by a doctor. But it is intended to make sure the first mention of
drugs comes from a doctor.

The Connecticut Association of Boards of Education has taken no position on
the bill. Nor has the Connecticut Education Association, the state's
largest teachers union. But union President Rosemary Coyle said she
believes that the problem is overstated.

"I really believe teachers do not practice medicine," Coyle said. "We don't
recommend kids get on drugs."

Nationally, nearly 20 million prescriptions were written last year for
Ritalin, Adderall and other stimulants used to treat ADHD. That is a 35
percent increase over 1996, according to IMS Health, a health care
information company. Most of those prescriptions were for boys younger than
age 12, IMS Health said.

Concern about Ritalin and other drugs is widespread. The State Board of
Education in Texas adopted a resolution last year recommending that schools
consider nonmedical solutions to behavior problems. The Colorado school
board approved a similar resolution in 1999, and legislation regarding
psychiatric drugs in school has been proposed in nearly a dozen states.

Although Texas does not bar school employees from recommending Ritalin to
parents, some Tarrant school district administrators say that such
recommendations are not appropriate.

"There is a common understanding that to recommend any type of medication
is in a sense practicing medicine and is going beyond the scope of what
educators can do with the training they have," said Leslie James, the Fort
Worth school district's executive director of special services. "It would
be like telling you that you need to be on insulin. We don't have the
knowledge and expertise to do that."

The Arlington school district takes the same approach, the district's
spokeswoman said.

"It is the district's practice to train our staff that they are not to
attempt to diagnose a child with attention deficit disorder, nor can they
recommend that the child be prescribed Ritalin," said Charlene Robertson,
school district spokeswoman.

Robertson did say, however, that staff members may suggest that a parent
have a child tested who may be showing characteristics of ADD.

The chief sponsor of the Connecticut legislation, state Rep. Lenny Winkler,
is an emergency room nurse. "I cannot believe how many young kids are on
Prozac, Thorazine, Haldol - you name it," Winkler said. "It blows my mind."

In the New Canaan school district, Matthews and her husband took their son,
now 8, to a private psychologist, who said the boy has trouble with
reasoning. He now receives special education from the school system.

"I was able to get, for $2,000, a different label that has an educational
connotation, rather than medical," Matthews said.