ADHD Drugs May Get Black Box

A sharply divided panel of experts recommended that medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder carry the Food and Drug Administration's strictest warning about potential risks of heart damage and sudden death.

By a vote of 8 to 7, with one abstention, an advisory committee to the FDA said these drugs, including Novartis' (NVS Quote) Ritalin and Shire Pharmaceuticals Group's (SHPGY Quote) Adderall contain so-called black box warnings to alert patients and physicians to the possible problems.

The FDA isn't bound by its advisory panels' recommendations. The vote came during a meeting when medical experts were being asked to determine "research approaches" that could be used to study whether ADHD drugs increase the risk of heart problems, according to an FDA description of the gathering. ...