December 4, 2003

 

Press Release

 

Contact Information:

Patricia Weathers, President               

(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews, National Vice President

(203) 966-8419

 

When the State Takes Your Child

 

The Asplund’s nightmare began when Chucky was eleven and the school diagnosed their son as emotionally disturbed and ADHD.  The State took custody of Chucky when the Asplund family refused to administer behavioral drugs to their son.  Chucky Asplund spent March 16, 2000 to August 24, 2001 in State Custody.  As Ward of the State, the State of Connecticut administered four drugs: Welbutrin, Haldol, Ativan, Risperidal; drugs not FDA approved for use in children.

 

The Asplund have requested that Representative Hetherington on the Program Review Committee in the State of Connecticut investigate the current policies regarding children mandated into State care, as well as what the Asplund’s believe is their participation in clinical drug trials without proper informed consent.  Overall, the Asplund are seeking accountability and a full investigation by the State into the amount of children on behavioral drugs with little or no oversight.

 

“I believe my son, Chucky, was used in a clinical drug trial for Welbutrin.  The doctor told me they needed children for the drug trial.  I never wanted him on any of the drugs.  I never gave my informed consent.  My child was trapped in the system and we had no say,” said Lynn Asplund. 

 

The result was that the State of Connecticut released Chucky from the Department of Family Services in March of last year.  Lynn Asplund asserts that she will stand firm and fight this outrage; one that she believes violated her and her child’s civil rights.

 

“I plan on fighting back now that my son is home!  We have a right to know if he was used in a clinical drug trial.  We have to protect our children from this kind of abuse.  Our hope is that Chucky’s ordeal will prevent children that are mandated into State care from being used as human guinea pigs in clinical drug trials or from being forced into taking drugs against their parent’s wishes,” Lynn Asplund said.

 

The Asplund’s fight to regain custody of their son took them in front of the State Legislature to pass the first State law of its kind to prohibit schools from recommending behavioral drugs for children and the removal of a child from their home based solely on the fact that the parents refuse to administer these behavioral drugs.  Currently six other States have follow Connecticut ’s example and passed similar laws.  Another 13 have some form of legislation pending or resolutions in place.  This clearly demonstrates that the problem is nationwide.

 

This crisis and outcry from parents has prompted the Federal government to take action by introducing this year “The Child Medication Safety Act”.  This act is an anti-coercion bill stating that schools cannot coerce parents to “medicate” their children as a requisite for attending school.  This bill passed the House of Representatives 425 to 1 and is currently pending in a Senate committee.   The overall goal is that this bill will protect all children in all States from being forced into behavioral drug use.

 

For more information on “The Child Medication Safety Act” or statistics by State of parents coming forward with similar cases, visit www.ablechild.org. 

 

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