The number of major league baseball players getting exemptions for the therapeutic use of stimulants is growing. Three years ago 28 players had exemptions for such medications as Adderall and Ritalin. Now the figure is 106 and growing.
The question is: does this increase mean a better diagnosis or a way around the drug ban?
The rate of ADHD is between 3.5 to five percent of the youth population, and the rate of adult diagnosis is between one to 3.5 percent. The number of ADHD players requiring an exemption is 14.4 percent, based on 750 major league players among the 30 teams with a roster of 25 players.
Rob Manfred, MLB's executive vice president, however claims that the organization is winning the war on exemptions. "We made progress this year," he said. "We granted fewer new T.U.E.'s than the prior
year."
Manfred appears to be using the same statistical hocus-pocus that seems to be prevalent among government economists and politicians. In MLB the claim that a slower rate of increase after an exponential increase is somehow "progress."
Manfred said it's unfair to compare the two rates between athletes and non-athletes. "We are far younger than the general population, and we have far better access to medical care," he argues.
Though children are half as likely to obtain ADHD diagnoses, this rate of diagnosis among children is widely regarded as inflated. Also the ages of players is irrelevant because of the astronomical rate of diagnosis compared to both adult and child populations.
The unspoken issue here is how the medical profession looks at ADHD. Cynical physicians who over-diagnose ADHD perpetuate the myth that treatment is primarily and perpetually pharmacalogical. It is not.
ADHD is often initially treated with medications, with the understanding that this is temporary. The more important behavioral re-education and support networks, are expected to eliminate the need for stimulants. Any medical position to the contrary, such as that exhibited by physicians serving MLB's teams, is tantamount to malpractice and needs to be investigated.
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