The parents of six-year-old James Patrick Smith receive a phone call from the school guidance counselor informing them of their child's recent hyperactive behavior. After a short conference, the guidance counselor offers the parents a solution to young James' problem; as a result, the family visits their family doctor and the doctor diagnoses James with attention deficit disorder (ADD) during a one-hour appointment. To remedy the disorder, the doctor prescribes the “savior drug” to patients with ADD; children are almost always fed the drug Ritalin, a prescription drug that has a strong euphoric power (Machan 151). The previous hypothetical situation is generally occurring in the United States at an increasing rate that may be too fast for the country to contain. Overprescribing the drug Ritalin to correct ADD produces many negative side effects on patients and society. In the vast market of prescription drugs, Ritalin, one of the most widely used drugs, also carries some of the greatest medical disadvantages. ADD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the number one psychiatric disorder in America (Hancock 52). Estimates suggest that more than two million children are living with the disease; Additionally, according to Dr. Daniel Safer of Johns Hopkins University, more than 1.3 million people regularly use Ritalin for the treatment of ADD (Hancock 52). Ritalin appears to be a popular choice with doctors, but the drug's daily effects, which family doctors don't see, raise questions about how effective it really is. Known scientifically as methylphenidate, Ritalin stimulates the central nervous system with similarities to amphetamines in the nature and extent of its effects; in addition, it would activate the brainstem arousal system and the cerebral cortex (Bailey 3). The key factor remains that doctors and researchers are not sure what precisely happens when Ritalin invades the human body. Hancock notes that there are no accurate long-term studies to assure parents that Ritalin is not causing more or less harm to their child, and that no illnesses accompany prolonged use (52). Test results released by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in February 1996 show a study of mice in which a rare form of liver cancer developed because of Ritalin; however, the FDA still considers Ritalin “safe and effective” (Hancock 56). Offering almost as many side effects as the number of people who take the drug, Ritalin changes many different aspects of the body. Some symptoms cited by Bailey include: nervousness, insomnia, loss of appetite, dizziness, heart palpitations, headaches, extreme weight loss, skin rashes, possible psychotic episodes and severe withdrawals. (3).