Walter Olson writes: http://www.overlawyered.com/

July 26-27, 2000 -- Couple ordered to give son Ritalin. A family court judge in Albany County, N.Y. has ordered Michael and Jill Carroll to resume giving their 7-year-old son Ritalin, the controversial psychiatric drug. The couple, who reside in the town of Berne, had taken their son Kyle off the medication, which is used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; they feared the drug was harming his appetite and sleep.

An official at the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School District proceeded to inform on them to the county Department of Social Services, which filed child abuse charges against the couple on charges of medical neglect. The charges, which might have led to the son's removal from the home, were dropped when they agreed before the judge to put Kyle back on the drug; they will, however, be allowed to seek a second opinion on whether the boy should get Ritalin and return to court to argue for the right to discontinue the drug at some future date. (Rick Carlin, "Court Orders Couple To Give Son Drug", Albany Times-Union, July 19 (fee-based archive -- search on "Ritalin" or other key words to find story)).