In May 2010, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) released a review on the side effects of modafinil, a drug used to treat narcolepsy.

According to the CHMP, modafinil showed disturbing signs of complications leading to suicidal thoughts, depression and psychotic episodes. In addition to the psychiatric adverse reactions, some cardiovascular complications, such as hypertension and irregular heartbeat, also appeared. According to further studies, the complications erupted when modafinil was used for other disorders than narcolepsy.

Subsequently, The European Medicines Agency made a public statement for the press in July saying that the use of modafinil should be restricted to the treatment of narcolepsy only. Moreover, CHMP concluded that modafinil should carry a clearer description of the product, which includes that this drug should not be used by children or by patients who suffer from any case of hypertension or cardiac arrhythmias, whether it was moderate or severe.

However, CHMP discovered that modafinil has recently been used to treat conditions other than the ones agreed upon earlier. As a result, CHMP conducted “drug utilization study” to figure out the reasons behind family doctors prescribing modafinil to children.

CHMP used the data released in an article published in the New York in 2002 Times that 80% of the doctors prescribe modafinil for treating fatigue and sleepiness, in addition to ADHD, despite the fact that the side effects are still present. Apparently, this is exactly what has been done recently.