Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jun 2002
Source: Clarion-Ledger, The (MS)
Copyright: 2002 The Clarion-Ledger
Contact: http://www.clarionledger.com/about/letters.html
Website: http://www.clarionledger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/805
Author: Jimmie E. Gates

TESTIMONY CONTINUES IN RITALIN SUIT

Teen, Now In Prison, Alleges Drug Led To Cocaine Habit

A Jefferson County teenager serving a manslaughter sentence blames his 
cocaine addiction on Ritalin and is suing the physician who prescribed the 
medication.

The lawsuit being heard in Fayette in Jefferson County Circuit Court claims 
Dr. Brian Stretch was negligent in treating Roderick Frye with Ritalin and 
not explaining how he should be withdrawn from the prescription drug used 
to treat Attention-Deficit Disorder.

Jim Shannon, attorney for Frye and his mother, Brenda Doss, says Ritalin is 
addictive and a child is supposed to be gradually weaned from the drug. He 
said the boy's mother took him off cold turkey, causing his addiction to 
crack cocaine.

Shannon said the doctor gave the mother no instructions on use of the drug. 
He said the mother took her son off the drug after he began to experience 
side affects, such as diarrhea.

Jackson attorney Ray McNamara said Stretch believes "very strongly" that he 
didn't do anything wrong in the treatment of the youth.

In 1999, Frye pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the stabbing death of a 
schoolmate on a school bus.

McNamara said physicians prescribe Ritalin daily for children with 
Attention Deficit Disorder.

"Literature doesn't support that Ritalin causes addiction to cocaine," 
McNamara said.

McNamara said Stretch believed Ritalin was the right treatment for the boy 
based upon his diagnosis.

Shannon said an expert on Ritalin, Peter Bregan of Maryland, testified for 
the plaintiffs about the addictive nature of Ritalin.

The lawsuit, which claims Frye, then 11, became addicted to cocaine at age 
12 after his mother took him off of Ritalin, seeks $500,000. The lawsuit 
originally included the makers of Ritalin and the drugstore that filled the 
prescription, but they were dropped from the lawsuit.

Shannon said the lawsuit doesn't claim that Ritalin played any part in 
Frye, then age 13, stabbing to death 14-year-old Kenneth Grayson on a 
school bus carrying students home from Jefferson County Middle School in 
November 1998.

After his manslaughter plea, Frye was sentenced to 15 years in prison with 
seven suspended and eight to serve. However, Shannon said, "I believe it 
(Ritalin) had something to do with it."

Grayson was stabbed twice in the chest and once in the arm. He was 
pronounced dead at the scene.

Frye, now 17, is serving his sentence at the Walnut Grove facility for 
youthful offenders.

The case is expected to conclude late today or Friday.
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