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CLAWSON- A common drug prescribed to treat hyperactive children killed 14-year-old Matthew Smith. Oakland County Medical Examiner Ljubisa Dragovic said Thursday that a skateboard accident did not kill Matthew. The damage done to his heart caused by years of taking Ritalin did.

Matthew died March 21 after he fell off his skateboard in the basement of his aunt's Clawson home. Investigators said he was playing with two cousins when his skateboard came out from underneath him. His cousins told investigators that Matthew started moaning and turned blue. When paramedics arrived they were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at Royal Oak William Beaumont Hospital.

An autopsy was done to try and determine what killed the boy. Dragovic said it appeared it wasn't the fall at all. "There was a chronic change of the heart muscle and the small blood vessels in the heart," he said. "This comes from long term exposure. This kid was on (Ritalin) repeatedly for 10 years." Matthew's father, Lawrence Smith said previously that his son appeared healthy and before the accident and had regular physicals.

Dragovic called Matthew's condition, "silent and smoldering". He said there was no way to remedy or detect it. Dragovic said the Medical Examiner's Office is forwarding their findings to the Food and Drug Administration to warn the public of the potential dangers associated with Ritalin.

Ritalin, or methylphenidate, is a medication commonly prescribed to children with abnormally high levels of activity or with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Ritalin is a stimulant medicine that can be addictive. According to the National institute of Health, Ritalin is more available in Michigan and Texas then anywhere else in the country.

"There is no question that Ritalin is a serious drug," Dragovic said. "It is a stimulant, a serious medication. It should be considered seriously by parents before it is prescribed for prolonged use. Chronic longterm exposure can lead to catastrophe like this."

(c)The Oakland Press 2000

Apr 14 2000 12:00AM
Caroline Kern
News Reporter