Two UC Davis faculty physicians who routinely evaluate and care for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder say physicians, parents and teachers shouldn't feel crazy if they are uncomfortable with the unprecedented rise in the use of a drug called Ritalin. Since 1990, Ritalin production in the United States climbed 500 percent, and ADHD diagnosis, the primary reason for prescribing Ritalin, has doubled to 2 million, with boys ages 5 to 17 constituting the largest group. "A lot of kids are inappropriately diagnosed and labeled," say Robin L. Hansen, director of the Developmental Pediatrics Clinic, and Penelope G. Krener, director of the Child and Adolescent Attention and Learning Clinic, both at the UC Davis School of Medicine and Medical Center. "And there is more and more pressure to do that." But Hansen and Krener don't believe physicians should be so ready to reach for the prescription pad. Instead, they say that children with serious attention or behavior problems deserve a comprehensive evaluation of their symptoms and, when ADHD is diagnosed, the experts agree that medication should be the last resort -- not the first.