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Black-box may issue warnings regarding the dangers of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications. But they could be inaccurate, and indicate serious negative consequences leading to youth suicide, said researchers at the University of Montreal.

Such warnings are contrary to what current research unearths, they say.

"Health Canada has issued a series of black-box warnings about the suicidal potential of ADHD medications," said Alain Lesage, co-author of the study, in a press release. "However, these warnings have failed to take into account epidemiological studies showing the opposite, that increased use of this medication has been associated with reduced suicide risk in adolescents."

In the last decade, while ADHD medical treatment tripled in Quebec, about 9 percent of boys aged 10 or older and 4 percent of boys aged 15 or older were being treated. Yet, suicides among Quebec's 15 to 19-year-olds were reduced by almost 50 percent around this time, unlike the warning given out by Health Canada.

"Clearly, the increased use of ADHD drugs indicates that they might actually reduce rather than augment the risk of suicide," said Edouard Kouassi, co-author of the study.

ADHD medication not only reduces hyperactivity but also enhances school performance and self-esteem. It brings down conduct disorder, female pregnancy and drug abuse, said researchers.

Worryingly, Health Canada's black-box warnings may lead to a reduction in the medication, even though they may be advantageous.

"The silence from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is especially worrying in a context in which it has been called on to prepare a national suicide prevention strategy for the government of Canada under Bill C-300. We wrote this correspondence hoping to sound the alarm about the warnings published by Quebec's health authorities, as elsewhere in Canada, which might lead to a decrease in this effective medical treatment," the study concludes.

However, more research is needed to strengthen the link between the medication and teen suicide rates.

The findings were published in the December issue of The Lancet Psychiatry