Vidya Bhushan Gupta

About the author: Vidya Bhushan Gupta is chief of developmental pediatrics at Metropolitan Hospital Center in New York. He is also an associate professor of clinical pediatrics at New York Medical College and a visiting associate research scientist at Columbia University.

In recent years some determined lobbyists and the popular press have created hysteria over the purported dangers of Ritalin, a medication used to treat children for attention deficit disorder (ADD). In fact, the majority of children who are treated with Ritalin benefit from the drug. It helps them to decrease their impulsivity and hyperactivity and to improve their social behavior and attention. As a result, they also improve their academic performance. The side effects of Ritalin have been greatly exaggerated. The fear that Ritalin will make children into zombies is unjustified. It...