HANSARD - Written questions and answers on Ritalin Prescription Rates - Pat Mc Mullan,MP,Wolverhampton SE

Pat McFadden MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 

(1) if he will estimate the number of children who have been prescribed Ritalin or a similar drug;

(2) if he will estimate the number of children under the age of six who have been prescribed Ritalin or a similar drug; and if he will assess trends in the number of such prescriptions in the last five years;

(3) if he will estimate the number of children under the age of six in Wolverhampton who have been prescribed Ritalin or a similar drug;

(4) what guidance (a) his Department and (b) the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence issues to practitioners on the prescription of Ritalin and similar drugs to young children.

Anne Milton: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr Field) on 4 April 2011, Official Report, column 684W.

The Information Centre Prescribing Team has advised that this information is not available for children's prescriptions. They have however provided information on the numbers of all Ritalin prescriptions dispensed in the community as follows:

Ritalin is a branded version of the drug Methylphenidate Hydrochloride. The following table shows the total number of items dispensed for Methylphenidate Hydrochloride overall (including Ritalin) and for Ritalin separately for individuals of all ages.

Methylphenidate Hydrochloride prescriptions dispensed in the community in England


Thousand


  

Prescription items


  

Methylphenidate Hydrochloride

  

Of which : Ritalin

1997
  

92.1
  

92.1

1998
  

126.6
  

126.6

1999
  

158.0
  

157.9

2000
  

186.2
  

181.3

2001
  

208.5
  

180.6

2002
  

254.0
  

161.8

2003
  

314.5
  

124.5

2004
  

359.1
  

67.8

2005
  

389.2
  

30.7

2006
  

456.9
  

26.5

2007
  

535.3
  

25.5

2008
  

573.4
  

22.8

2009
  

610.2
  

20.2

Notes: