ATTENTION DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER-
ARE WE OVERMEDICATING OUR CHILDREN?

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON

GOVERNMENT REFORM

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

SEPTEMBER 26, 2002

Serial No. 107-141

Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house

http://www.house.gov/reform

83-516 PDF

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WASHINGTON: 2003

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
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COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM

DAN BURTON, Indiana, Chairman

KEVIN BINGER, Staff Director

DANIEL R. MOLL, Deputy Staff Director
JAMES C. WILSON, Chief Counsel
ROBERT A. BRIGGS, Chief Clerk
PHIL SCHILIRO, Minority Staff Director

Nakamura, Richard K., Acting Director, National Institute of Mental

Health

Ross, E. Clarke, chief executive officer of CHADD-Children and Adults
with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Landover, MD; and
David Fassler, M.D., representative, American Psychiatric Association,
and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Washing-
ton, DC

Weathers, Patricia, president, Parents for Label and Drug Free Edu-

cation; Mary Ann Block, D.O., author and medical director, the Block

Center; Lisa Marie Presley, national spokesperson, Citizens' Commis-

sion on Human Rights; and Bruce Wiseman, U.S. president, Citizen's

Commission on Human Rights

Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by:

Block, Mary Ann, D.O., author and medical director, the Block Center,

prepared statement of

Page

1

Burton, Hon. Dan, a Representative in Congress from the State of Indi-

ana, prepared statement of

5

Fassler, David, M.D., representative, American Psychiatric Association,

and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Washing-

ton, DC, prepared statement of

Kucinich, Hon. Dennis J., a Representative in Congress from the State

of Ohio, prepared statement of

Morella, Hon. Constance A., a Representative in Congress from the State

of Maryland, prepared statement of

Nakamura, Richard K., Acting Director, National Institute of Mental

Health, prepared statement of

Presley, Lisa Marie, national spokesperson, Citizens' Commission on

Human Rights, prepared statement of

Ross, E. Clarke, chief executive officer of CHADD-Children and Adults

with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Landover, MD, prepared

statement of

96

Roukema, Hon. Marge, a Representative in Congress from the State
of New Jersey, prepared statement of

140

Watson, Hon. Diane E. Watson, a Representative in Congress from the

State of California, prepared statement of

17

Weathers, Patricia, president, Parents for Label and Drug Free Edu-
cation, prepared statement of

Wiseman, Bruce, U.S. president, Citizen's Commission on Human Rights,

prepared statement of

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ATTENTION DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER-ARE WE OVERMEDICATING OUR CHILDREN?

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2002

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM,

Washington, DC.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:28 a.m., in room. 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Dan Burton (chairman of the committee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Burton, Gilman, Morella, Horn, Souder, LaTourette, JoAnn Davis of Virginia, Weldon, Putnam, Duncan, Cummings, and Watson.

Staff present: Kevin Binger, staff director; Chad Bungard, John Callendar, Jason Foster, Randall Kaplan, and Matt Rupp, counsels; S. Elizabeth Clay and Gil Macklin, professional staff members; Blain Rethmeier, communications director; Allyson Blandford, assistant to chief counsel; Robert A. Briggs, chief clerk; Robin Butler, office manager; Joshua E. Gillespie, deputy chief clerk; Michael Layman and Susie Schulte, legislative assistants; Nicholis Mutton, deputy communications director; Leneal Scott, computer systems manager; Mindi Walker, staff assistant; Sarah Despres, minority counsel; Ellen Rayner, minority chief clerk; and Jean Gosa and Earley Green, minority assistant clerks.

Mr. BURTON. Good morning. A quorum being present, the Committee on Government Reform will come to order.

I ask unanimous consent that all Members' and witnesses' written and opening statements be included in the record. Without objection, so ordered.

I ask unanimous consent that all articles, exhibits, and extraneous or tabular material referred to be included in the record. Without objection, so ordered.

Today we're going to be discussing a very important issue that affects many, many children in the United States. As all of us know, our children are our future. I doubt there's a single Member of Congress that doesn't feel strongly that we need to do our dead level best to protect and improve the health and well-being of the children of this Nation.

Today we're going to talk about a group of symptoms known as "attention disorders." In the last two decades, we've heard more and more attention about deficit disorders, ADD, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder, ADHD.

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