According to IMS Health, a company that surveys medication trends, there have been many new prescriptions written for all three of those medications. In 1999, out of the top 200 medications with the most new prescriptions, Adderall ranked 59 (4,140 new prescriptions); Ritalin ranked 142 (2,089 new prescriptions); and Dexedrine ranked 169, (1,735 new prescriptions).

The following is a list of the most commonly prescribed medications used to treat ADHD in children.

Ritalin	Novartis Pharmaceuticals	Methylphenidate	Stimulant	3-4 hours
Ritalin-SR	Novartis Pharmaceuticals	Methylphenidate	Stimulant	7 hours
Adderall	Shire Richwood	Amphetamine	Stimulant	3-6 hours
Dexedrine	SmithKline Beecham	Dextroamphetamine	Stimulant	3-5 hours
Concerta	Alza Corporation	Methylphenidate	Stimulant	12 hours
Cylert *	Abbott Laboratories	Pemoline	Stimulant	12-24 hours
Metadate **	Medeva Pharmaceuticals	Methylphenidate	Stimulant	12 hours

* Abbott Laboratories has issued a warning indicating that Cylert should not ordinarily be considered as first-line drug therapy for ADHD, due to increased reports of liver failure in children using the drug.

** On April 4, 2001, it was announced that the FDA had approved Medeva's application to market Metadate in the U.S.

For more information on drugs used to treat ADHD, see this section of About.com for many articles, essays, and statistics on the various medications.