The Corner

Eberstadt or Fumento?

I have tremendous respect for the work of both Eberstadt and Fumento. On this issue of ADHD and Ritalin, however, I lean Eberstadt’s way. Both authors make good points, but there are a couple of claims in Fumento’s reply to Eberstadt that give me pause. Although Fumento says that Eberstadt misrepresents physician Lawrence Diller’s position on ADHD, Fumento effectively acknowledges that Diller says what Eberstadt claims he says–Ritalin, while perhaps sometimes helpful, is nonetheless often over-prescribed. And in Fumento’s original piece, as well as his reply to Eberstadt, he stresses that Ritalin is not identical to cocaine. But as I understand it, Eberstadt never argues that Ritalin and cocaine are identical, only that they are close cousins, and that this relationship raises important questions and concerns.

Stanley Kurtz is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
Exit mobile version