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Health Highlights: Jan. 12, 2009

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106 Major League Baseball Players Got Exemptions for ADHD Drugs

Almost 8 percent of all Major League Baseball players used drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during the 2008 season, almost twice the percentage of the general population.

The drugs -- usually stimulants -- to treat ADHD are among those banned for general use in the major leagues, according to the Associated Press. The 106 exemptions -- 7.86 percent of all major league players -- are actually three more than granted during the 2007 season, the wire service reported.

The U.S. National Institute of Mental health estimates that 3 to 5 percent of American children have ADHD.

A Major League Baseball spokesman told the AP that making that sort of comparison might not be a fair one. "We are far younger than the general population," Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations, was quoted as saying, "and we have far better access to medical care than the general population."

But Dr. Gary Wadler, chairman of the committee that creates a list of banned drugs for sports organizations, told the wire service he was concerned about the percentage exemptions for ADHD drugs in professional baseball.

"I've been in private practice for a lot of years," Wadler told the AP. "I can count on one hand the number of individuals that have ADD. To say that (7.86 percent) of major league baseball players have attention deficit disorder is crying out for an explanation."

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