Methylphenidate (Ritalin) Drug - Essay Example

Another recent advancement of the drug is the making of a patch that can administer the drug in several doses; however it is not as efficient as the regular dosages of the drug. Methylphenidate effects the central nervous system, but exactly how and why it does such great things for people with ADHD is not entirely understood. The drug is also kept under close watch, as it has many side effects, and can become addictive and sometimes it also abused. There is much criticism of the drug because of these side effects.

Also, the drug is sometimes over prescribed, as well as it still carrying the tendency to hold a person to addiction. The long term effects of the drug are also under question, although no specific cases have proved this as of yet. Methylphenidate has also been sited as the cause of heart failure in several cases, however the FDA still will not put a warning label about this on the product. The illegal market for the drug is also a concern, where people who are supposed to receive the drug sell it in black maket type situations.

Methylphenidate was originally patented in 1954 by a company named Ciba (Methylphenidate). It was made to “treat depression, chronic fatigue, and narcolepsy” and it was not until the 1960s that the drug began to be used to treat symptoms of ADHD (Methylphenidate). Methylphenidate is the most widely prescribed drug for ADHD in the world, with more than 75 percent of the prescriptions being written for children, and with boys holding the majority of taking the drugs over girls(as many as 4 times as much)( Methylphenidate).

Most of the production of Methylphenidate happens in the United States; however Mexico and Argentina also have contracts to produce the drug. The drug is sold and available in Germany, The United Kingdom, as well as in several other European countries, but its quantities is nowhere close to that of the United States (Methylphenidate). A new breakthrough in the