Legal Issues in the Treatment of Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

The treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has raised a number of legal issues. Tort issues include medical malpractice and battery claims. Suits have charged physicians with negligent misdiagnosis of ADHD, and failure to obtain adequate informed consent for the use of stimulant medications, primarily by inadequate provision of information about side effects. Coercive use of medications by school systems, in the absence of parental consent, has raised issues about battery. Constitutional questions are present concerning limitations on parental rights to decline medical care for their children balanced against the State's interest in safeguarding the health and welfare of children. Children's own equal protection, due process, and privacy rights are also at issue, as well as their constitutional and statutory right to an education. (J Child Neurol 1991;6(Suppl):S66-S73).