Methylphenidate

Methylphenidate (MPH; MPD) is a psychostimulant drug approved for treatment of ADHD or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome and narcolepsy. It is better known by its 1948 trademarked name of Ritalin (original owner CIBA, now Novartis Corporation), was first licensed by the FDA in 1955 for treating ADHD, prescribed from 1960, and became heavily prescribed in the 1990s, when ADHD itself became more widely accepted.