FDA label 564aea23-0cff-4d95-a009-793124089667

Drug Dependence : Methylphenidate Hydrochloride should be given cautiously to patients with a history of drug dependence or alcoholism. Chronic abusive use can lead tomarked tolerance and psychological dependence with varying degrees of abnormal behavior. Frank psychotic episodes can occur,especially with parenteral abuse. Careful supervision is required during withdrawal from abusive use, since severe depression mayoccur. Withdrawal following chronic therapeutic use may unmask symptoms of the underlying disorder that may require follow-up.

What is the most important information I should know about Methylphenidate Hydrochloride and Methylphenidate Hydrochloride ER? The following have been reported with use of methylphenidate hydrochloride and other stimulant medicines. 1. Heart-related problems: • sudden death in patients who have heart problems or heart defects • stroke and heart attack in adults • increased blood pressure and heart rate Tell your doctor if you or your child have any heart problems, heart defects, high blood pressure, or a family history of these problems. Your doctor should check you or your child carefully for heart problems before starting Methylphenidate Hydrochloride and Methylphenidate Hydrochloride ER. Your doctor should check your or your child's blood pressure and heart rate regularly during treatment with Methylphenidate Hydrochloride and Methylphenidate Hydrochloride ER Call your doctor right away if you or your child has any signs of heart problems such as chest pain, shortness of breath, or fainting while taking Methylphenidate Hydrochlorideand Methylphenidate Hydrochloride ER. 2. Mental (Psychiatric) problems: All Patients • new or worse behavior and thought problems • new or worse bipolar illness • new or worse aggressive behavior or hostility Children and Teenagers • new psychotic symptoms (such as hearing voices, believing things that are not true, are suspicious) or new manic symptoms Tell your doctor about any mental problems you or your child have, or about a family history of suicide, bipolar illness, or depression Call your doctor right away if you or your child have any new or worsening mental symptoms or problems while taking Methylphenidate Hydrochloride and Methylphenidate Hydrochloride ER, especially seeing or hearing things that are not real, believing things that are not real, or are suspicious.

Methylphenidate Hydrochloride and Methylphenidate Hydrochloride ERis a federally controlled substance (CII) because it can be abused or lead to dependence. Keep Methylphenidate Hydrochloride and Methylphenidate Hydrochloride ER in a safe place to prevent misuse and abuse. Selling or giving away Methylphenidate Hydrochloride and Methylphenidate Hydrochloride ER may harm others, and is against the law. Tell your doctor if you or your child have (or have a family history of) ever abused or been dependent on alcohol, prescription medicines or street drugs.

WARNINGS

Pre-Existing Psychosis Administration of stimulants may exacerbate symptoms of behavior disturbance and thought disorder in patients with a pre-existing psychotic disorder. Bipolar Illness – Particular care should be taken in using stimulants to treat ADHD in patients with comorbid bipolar disorder because of concern for possible induction of a mixed/manic episode in such patients. Prior to initiating treatment with a stimulant, patients with comorbid depressive symptoms should be adequately screened to determine if they are at risk for bipolar disorder; such screening should include a detailed psychiatric history, including a family history of suicide, bipolar disorder, and depression. Emergence of New Psychotic or Manic Symptoms – Treatment emergent psychotic or manic symptoms, e.g., hallucinations, delusional thinking, or mania in children and adolescents without a prior history of psychotic illness or mania can be caused by stimulants at usual doses. If such symptoms occur, consideration should be given to a possible causal role of the stimulant, and discontinuation of treatment may be appropriate. In a pooled analysis of multiple short-term, placebo-controlled studies, such symptoms occurred in about 0.1% (4 patients with events out of 3,482 exposed to methylphenidate or amphetamine for several weeks at usual doses) of stimulant-treated patients compared to 0 in placebo-treated patients. Aggression – Aggressive behavior or hostility is often observed in children and adolescents with ADHD, and has been reported in clinical trials and the postmarketing experience of some medications indicated for the treatment of ADHD. Although there is no systematic evidence that stimulants cause aggressive behavior or hostility, patients beginning treatment for ADHD should be monitored for the appearance of or worsening of aggressive behavior or hostility. Long-Term Suppression of Growth Careful follow-up of weight and height in children ages 7 to 10 years who were randomized to either methylphenidate or non-medication treatment groups over 14 months, as well as in naturalistic subgroups of newly methylphenidate-treated and non-medication treated children over 36 months (to the ages of 10 to 13 years), suggests that consistently medicated children (i.e., treatment for 7 days per week throughout the year) have a temporary slowing in growth rate (on average, a total of about 2 cm less growth in height and 2.7 kg less growth in weight over 3 years), without evidence of growth rebound during this period of development. Published data are inadequate to determine whether chronic use of amphetamines may cause a similar suppression of growth, however, it is anticipated that they likely have this effect as well. Therefore, growth should be monitored during treatment with stimulants, and patients who are not growing or gaining height or weight as expected may need to have their treatment interrupted.

ADVERSE REACTIONS Nervousness and insomnia are the most common adverse reactions but are usually controlled by reducing dosage and omitting the drug in the afternoon or evening. Other reactions include hypersensitivity (including skin rash, urticaria, fever, arthralgia, exfoliative dermatitis, erythema multiforme with histopathological findings of necrotizing vasculitis, and thrombocytopenic purpura); anorexia; nausea; dizziness; palpitations; headache; dyskinesia; drowsiness; blood pressure and pulse changes, both up and down; tachycardia; angina; cardiac arrhythmia; abdominal pain; weight loss during prolonged therapy. There have been rare reports of Tourette's syndrome. Toxic psychosis has been reported. Although a definite causal relationship has not been established, the following have been reported in patients taking this drug: instances of abnormal liver function, ranging from transaminase elevation to hepatic coma; isolated cases of cerebral arteritis and/or occlusion; leukopenia and/or anemia; transient depressed mood; aggressive behavior; a few instances of scalp hair loss. Very rare reports of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) have been received, and, in most of these, patients were concurrently receiving therapies associated with NMS. In a single report, a ten-year-old boy who had been taking methylphenidate for approximately 18 months experienced an NMS-like event within 45 minutes of ingesting his first dose of venlafaxine. It is uncertain whether this case represented a drug-drug interaction, a response to either drug alone, or some other cause. In children, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, weight loss during prolonged therapy, insomnia, and tachycardia may occur more frequently; however, any of the other adverse reactions listed above may also occur.