Complaints being made about the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of a type of ADHD medicine are being analysed by the Chief Medicinal Officer in liaison with the Chairperson of Psychiatry, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry has told The Malta Independent.

PN MP Jason Azzopardi last week wrote on social media that he had been told by a family that he was visiting that the ADHD medicine that they used to get from the Pharmacy of Your Choice (POYC) scheme – called Concerta – had been replaced by a medicine called Xenidate XL which, Azzopardi said, is “ineffective”.

“Loads of parents and doctors are complaining”, the outspoken MP said.

This newsroom was also told that the medicine in question was out of stock until June, hence the replacement.  This was however denied by the Health Ministry, with the ministry’s spokesperson saying that on the part of the government there are no ADHD medicines which are currently out of stock.

Asked about the complaints, the spokesperson said that these were being analysed by the Chief Medicinal Officer in liaison with the Chairperson of Psychiatry since there has not been any scientific reports across the EU to indicate that the medicine was ineffective.

The spokesperson also added that “all products purchased by the Government are equivalent in terms of bioequivalence and are all licensed for use on the international EU market”.

ADHD – or rather, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder – is the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder in children and is characterised by, amongst other things, difficulty in paying attention, excessive activity, and difficulty in controlling behaviour.

In November 2015, the government made the ADHD medicine Concerta available for free and available from pharmacies as part of the POYC scheme.