Question reference: S3W-25312
- Asked by: Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 25 June 2009
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 July 2009
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3652 by Shona Robison on 13 September 2007, for what reasons the number of prescriptions of Ritalin fell in each year between 2002 and 2007 and whether this number is expected to continue to fall in future years.
Answer
Ritalin is one of a number of products containing methylphenidate hydrochloride, used for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While the total prescribing of these products increased between 2002 and 2007 and continued to increase in 2008 and 2009, the number of prescribed items for Ritalin continued to fall in 2008 and 2009 (3,466 and 2,723 prescribed items respectively).
The reason for this may be that prescribers have chosen other methylphenidate products. The decision on which product to prescribe for an individual patient is a matter for the clinical judgement of the prescriber informed by advice and evidence about the medicine.