Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in clinical practice.

The safety data in this section is based on data from a 7-week controlled clinical study of Focalin XR in 100 (103 randomized) pediatric patients with ADHD ages 6 to 17 years (ages 6 to 12, n = 86; ages 13 to 17, n = 17).

This study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study to evaluate the time of onset, duration of efficacy, tolerability, safety of Focalin XR 5 mg to 30 mg/day who met The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for ADHD

Table 1 enumerates adverse reactions for the placebo-controlled, parallel-group study in children and adolescents with ADHD at flexible Focalin XR doses of 5–30 mg/day. The table includes only those events that occurred in 5% or more of patients treated with Focalin XR and for which the incidence in patients treated with Focalin XR was at least twice the incidence in placebo-treated patients.

Table 2 below enumerates the incidence of dose-related adverse reactions that occurred during a fixed-dose, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in pediatric patients with ADHD taking Focalin XR up to 30 mg daily versus placebo. The table includes only those reactions that occurred in patients treated with Focalin XR for which the incidence was at least 5% and greater than the incidence among placebo-treated patients.

The safety data in this section is based on data from a 5-week controlled clinical study of Focalin XR in 218 adult patients (221 randomized) with ADHD ages 18 to 60 years. In this study, 101 adult patients were treated for at least 6 months.

This study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of Focalin XR 20 mg, 30 mg, or 40 mg daily who met DSM-IV criteria for ADHD

Table 3 enumerates adverse reactions for the placebo-controlled, parallel-group study in adults with ADHD at fixed Focalin XR doses of 20, 30, or 40 mg/day. The table includes only those events that occurred in 5% or more of patients in a Focalin XR dose group and for which the incidences in patients treated with Focalin XR appeared to increase with dose.

Two other adverse reactions occurring in clinical trials with Focalin XR at a frequency greater than placebo, but which were not dose related were: feeling jittery (12% and 2%, respectively) and dizziness (6% and 2%, respectively).

Table 4 summarizes changes in vital signs and weight that were recorded in the adult study (N = 218) of Focalin XR in the treatment of ADHD.

The following additional adverse reactions have been identified during postapproval use of dexmethylphenidate. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.

The following adverse reactions associated with the use of all Ritalin and Focalin formulations were identified in clinical trials, spontaneous reports, and literature. Because these reactions were reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to estimate their frequency reliably or to establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.

The list below shows adverse reactions not listed with Ritalin and Focalin formulations that have been reported with other methylphenidate products based on clinical trials data and post-marketing spontaneous reports.