The Brazilian policy of withholding treatment for ADHD is probably increasing health and social costs

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the economic consequences of the current Brazilian government policy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment and how much the country would save if treatment with immediate-release methylphenidate (MPH-IR), as suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO), was offered to patients with ADHD. METHOD: Based on conservative previous analyses, we assumed that 257,662 patients aged 5 to 19 years are not …