
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, November 6, 1993                   TAG: 9311060005
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Cox News Service
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BUREAUCRATIC DELAY CAUSES NATIONWIDE SHORTAGE OF RITALIN

Sheila Cordtz drove to five Atlanta-area pharmacies last week looking for Ritalin, the drug that enables her 6-year-old son to sit still and pay attention in class.

The first four stores were out of Ritalin and its generic equivalent and said it would be mid-December or later before new shipments came in. The fifth store had limited amounts of the generic form in stock.

Because of a bureaucratic glitch, Ritalin and its generic counterpart, methylphenidate hydrochloride, may disappear completely in the next several weeks from pharmacies across the country.

Ritalin production was put on hold earlier this fall because federal authorities waited too long to authorize an increase in the nation's annual quota of the drug. Ritalin is subject to annual production limits because it is a controlled substance.

"Traditionally, supplies get tight at the end of the year, and we go back and ask for a readjustment," said Todd Forte, a spokesman for Ciba-Geigy, manufacturer of Ritalin. "This year, the shortage is particularly acute because of this delay in the decision."

Ciba-Geigy and M.D. Pharmaceutical, makers of the generic drug, received permission Oct. 7 from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to resume production, Forte said. But by then, there was "already a break in the pipeline."

Meanwhile, parents and special education teachers are steeling themselves for what could be a rocky few weeks.

Physicians may prescribe the generic drug if Ritalin runs out, or another drug altogether, pediatric neurologist Howard Schub said. "We may prescribe Dexedrine, a psycho-stimulant that can work like Ritalin," he said.

by CNB