Stimulant use and sudden death in children

A recent study suggests that children and adolescents who take stimulant medications for ADHD have a higher risk for sudden unexpected death. Such events are rare, however.

In recent years, concerns have arisen that stimulants for ADHD may be associated with an increased risk of death. Results of the current study are consistent with these concerns.

American researchers assessed stimulant use in 564 cases of sudden death that occurred in the US from 1985 to 1996 in young people aged 7 to 19 and in 564 matched cases involving passengers who had died in motor vehicle accidents. Ten of the subjects in the sudden death group (1.8 percent) had used stimulant meds compared with two individuals (0.4 percent) in the comparison group.

Moreover, nine of the ten youths who used stimulants in the sudden death group took methylphenidate (the generic name of Ritalin), compared with just one of the two stimulant users in the control group. On final analysis, stimulant use was linked to a sevenfold increase in the odds of sudden death.

While the above data has limitations that rule out a definitive conclusion, the findings draw attention to the potential risks of stimulant medications for children and adolescents with ADHD, which warrant clinical attention and further study.