Ritalin is a medication that, since the 1950s, doctors in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere have prescribed to treat individuals with a variety of psychiatric symptoms, including depression, fatigue, and difficulties with attention and impulsivity. Chemist Leandro Panizzon first synthesized the drug in 1944 under the scientific name methylphenidate while working at the pharmaceutical company CIBA in Basel, Switzerland. CIBA patented the drug in 1950 and marketed it as Ritalin. The US Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, approved Ritalin for use in children in 1961 and by the 1970s doctors were prescribing the drug to children who had received a medical diagnosis of hyperactivity. The American Psychiatric Association, or APA, replaced the diagnosis of hyperactivity with attention-deficit disorder, or ADD, in 1980, and with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, in 1987. Over that time, and since, Ritalin has remained a first-choice drug for physicians treating hyperactivity and attention deficits in both adults and children, while also generating discussion and debate about potential overuse, especially in children.