Word: use
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...early 1980s after the synthetic hormone diethylstilbestrol, or DES, was detected several times in baby food made with veal. (The growth-inducing compound, which has been linked to cancer and birth defects, was banned in the U.S. in 1979.) Amid the furor, four countries prohibited all hormone use in cattle. The E.C. adopted the restriction in 1985, and this month banned the importation of hormone- treated meat...
Manufactured by Eli Lilly, Syntex and other U.S. pharmaceutical firms and approved by the Food and Drug Administration for controlled use, the hormone pellets are implanted in the animal under the skin behind the ears. The small time-release capsules slowly dole out the hormones over several weeks during key growth stages. By eliminating as many as 21 days of feeding time before the animals reach the target weight of about 1,000 lbs., the hormone treatments (cost per implant: about $1) save the cattlemen approximately $20 per head, which can be the difference between profit and loss. Producers maintain...
...people who consume the meat. Yet E.C. officials have brushed aside U.S. contentions that the hormones are safe. "Where there is doubt, there must be a total ban to protect consumers," declared Bart Staes, a spokesman for a group of European environmental and political parties that oppose hormone use. The E.C. established a scientific panel to study the issue, but disbanded the group before it could report its findings...
Many physicians defend the use of Ritalin, citing studies indicating that the drug is generally safe and is effective in about 80% of cases of hyperactive children. Adverse effects are usually limited to temporary appetite loss and insomnia. "Ritalin is not a panacea," says researcher Howard Abikoff of the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, "but without medication we'd be up against the wall...
...some medical experts acknowledge that Ritalin is being overprescribed. In Georgia, Michigan, Utah and Maryland use of the drug is two or three times the national average. Says Andrew Watry, executive director of Georgia's medical board: "It's seen by some as a quick fix for behavior problems." The blame belongs not only to doctors, who sometimes give little more than cursory examinations before reaching for the prescription pad, and teachers, who want their classrooms to be peaceful. It also rests on parents, who often expect their children to be stellar performers. ADHD is most commonly diagnosed in prosperous...