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Author: Sheila Matthews

NEWTOWN ONE YEAR LATER, THE MISSING LINK

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

In one of a long string of mass murders ending with the killer committing suicide, Sandy Hook, Newtown grabbed the attention of the entire world on December 14, 2012 when yet another mental health client went on a killing spree.

President Obama went to Newtown, Connecticut during the time families were mourning the loss of their children and before their burials.  The President took to the stage at the Newtown High School blocks from the deadly killings and delivered a powerful, moving heartfelt speech where he began to launch a very targeted campaign.  The President said, “We as a nation, we are left with some hard questions.”

As Steve Peoples from the Associated Press writes in his article, Year after Newtown, Gun control Groups keep hope”, “A divided Congress denied President Barack Obama’s calls for change.”  The Associated Press article describes the movement being led by President Obama.  What is not mentioned in the article, this political movement is being built on the backdrop of mourning parents, a failed investigation, a State unwilling to release the shooter’s mental health and special education records, with an incomplete release of a toxicology summary.

The AP report discloses a battle plan of a national operation backed by an alliance of well-funded organizations set up to pressure Congress ahead of next fall’s elections. The groups are sending dozens of paid staff into key states, enlisting thousands of volunteer activists preparing to spend tens of millions of dollars against politicians who stand in the way of their goals.

As the Cofounder of Ablechild, during a Fox News interview with Douglas Kennedy in the aftermath of the Red Lake massacre, Douglas Kennedy asked me, “What do you want?”  I responded, “A federal hearing into to link between psychiatric drugs and school shootings”.

We are not alone in asking the hard question. In Congresswoman Betty McCollum’s home district town hall meeting in Minnesota, again the same question, “What is the link to the shootings and the psychiatric drugs?”

The Congresswoman’s response is stunning. She said that the CDC, the Center for Disease Control, has a “rule” that prohibits the Congress from studying the link between psychiatric drugs and mass shootings. (video 39.30).

Is that true? No.

The CDC is a federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services.  It certainly doesn’t have the power of “rule” making over Congress.

Ablechild reached out for clarification to her office regarding her comments on this CDC rule.  We received back an article about President Obama and gun control that had nothing to do with our quest for clarification on the CDC rule.  We were asked to put our request in writing; we did and as of yet have not received a response.

Congresswoman McCollum’s home State of Minnesota on March 21, 2005 suffered a killing spree called the “Red Lake Massacre” that occurred in two places on the Ojibwa Red Lake reservation.

A 16 year old, Jeffrey Wiese killed his grandfather, a tribal police officer and his grandfather’s girlfriend at their home, before going to Red lake Senior High School where he killed seven people, and wounded five others, then committed suicide.

According to relatives the teenager was taking the antidepressant Prozac, 20 milligrams 3 times a day.

Congresswoman McCollum has a great opportunity to respond to her district and push for federal hearings on mass murders and their link to psychiatric drugs.

Ablechild will continue to push for these federal hearings.  We plan to participate in the upcoming Connecticut February short legislative session to ensure the toxicology panels at the medical examiner’s office are updated and include clinical trial drugs, as well as to obtain a transparent policy  regarding toxicology reports, mental health records, and the associated link to mental health treatments in the aftermath of mass murders and suicides.

This type of legislation will ensure the public has the compelling data that already exists allowing the public to fully participate in the legislative process and to produce life saving public policies.

We agree with President Obama, it is time to ask hard questions.  We, however, don’t think it is a time to build a political movement, pass executive orders giving more funding to an unregulated and unaccountable mental health industry without asking the hard questions.  This is a vital pubic health and safety issue.

We encourage Congresswoman McCollum along with her district voters to help us obtain those federal hearings and welcome her response on our inquiry.

 

“How many canaries: thoughts provoked by a recent school shooting.” published by Ablechild Board of Director, Dr. Tebbs

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Violence.

ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN GERMANY by DR. TREVOR TEBBS, Ph.D., ABLECHILD BOARD OF DIRECTOR

Tebbs, Trevor J. “How many canaries: Thoughts provoked by a recent school shooting.” Labyrinth ( Deutche Gesellschaft fur das hochbegabte Kind e.V.) 34, no. 117
(August, 2013): 16-18

HOW MANY MORE CANARIES

– So who pulls the trigger……and WHY

ARTICLE LINK: Canaries

BACKGROUND: Board of Director – Trevor James Tebbs, Ph.D.

Dr. Tebbs’ interest in Ablechild springs from his direct experience of dysfunctional young people battling against a labeled and “medicated” history from their early years in school. Convinced of a more holistic approach in which personal engagement and informed decision-making contributes to healthy educational and emotional development, he views “medication” as the primary means of treating various “disorders” both troublesome and potentially unhealthy. He believes we are in the midst of a cultural phenomenon of young people, and their parents deserve to know more.

With almost 40 years experience and qualifications in art, special & regular education Dr. Tebbs has taught K – 16+ students in regular, special, art, gifted, primary, secondary, and post secondary educational settings in the both the UK and USA . His educational psychology doctoral degree from the University of Connecticut concentrates on gifted education and counseling. He studied with Dr. Joseph Renzulli at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.

ABLECHILD’S APPEAL FOR NEWTOWN SHOOTER’S MEDICAL RECORDS & TOXICOLOGY REPORT GOES TO FULL CT FIO COMMISSION

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

Within the last few days, Ablechild submitted to the full Freedom of Information Commission our objections to the hearing officer’s proposed final decision.  It is our plan to follow every legal procedure and avenue to secure the critical information being denied to the public relating to the mass murderous actions and suicide of Adam Lanza and their link to psychiatric drugs, which have been shown to increase the risk of violence and suicide.  In fact, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence to establish this link.  There is an obvious growing increase in mass murders and suicides throughout this nation, and yet the public remains in the dark.  We are all probably aware that a large part of this is due to the pharmaceutical industry giant, a profit driven machine with many vested interests, one of which is in keeping us uninformed.

“Toxic relationship have been long established between big pharma, mainstream media, and government.  What is perfectly clear is that all of the conflicts of interest that result from these relationships play a direct role in compromising our health and safety.” Says Patricia Weathers, Cofounder of Ablechild.

Despite this obstacle, Ablechild has and will continue fulfilling its mission of full informed consent because it strongly believes that the public HAS THE RIGHT TO KNOW.  It is simple, without the public given the information they are left being unable to make informed decisions.

This disclosure of information is shown to be never more critical when we watched the impulsive, immediate legislative reaction of the State of Connecticut in the aftermath of the mass murders and suicide in Newtown, which was its push for more mental health screening and psychiatric drug treatment for children despite its obvious lack of information and facts.  Wrongful and improper legislation will continue to have dire consequences on our children health and the publics as a whole.  This is just one more reason why we continue to rally for our right to full informed consent, and of course our children’s safety!

Docket No. FIC 2013-197

Ablechild Notice Submission
Ablechild Objections
Ablechild Original Appeal to FOI

 

CT Hearing on FOI, Sandy Hook – October 9, 2013

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

FOI TASK FORCE USES VICTIMS TO AVIOD DISCLOSURE OF CRITICAL INFORMATION NEEDED TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC

The task force that met Wednesday night was created as part of a law that State legislators rushed through the Capitol to block the release of some records from the shootings.

This law was passed without public notice, or a public hearing. Citizens should be very concerned by this growing foreign style of government and the journalists who endorse it. It is not a law, if it doesn’t follow due process, and open hearings for the people to participate in the passing of that law. The Connecticut Post and other papers seem to validate this “task force” and gloss over the lack of authority and massive amounts of “conflicts of interest” the members of this task force hold.

According to the Connecticut Post article, Parents, others plead for privacy, the panel co-chairman, Don DesCesare, indicated that task force members would likely begin writing their final report in November. “He said that he believes they will have enough time to make recommendations for changes in state law, rather than simply giving approval to the law that is already on the state’s books. If it was our intent to second the legislature, we would not have all these meetings,” he said.

This obviously is an attempt by the State to backdraft their lack of public hearings, and public notice on the law they claim is on the books now.

Ablechild followed up with reporter on our concerns relating to the initial law that was passed without due process, we didn’t seem to get an argument there. However, when we asked why our testimony wasn’t a part of his article, we were told quite frankly that it was “to complicated” and all the task members had “blank faces” after we testified.

Honestly, requesting the toxicology and medical records of the school shooter doesn’t seem that complicated. We encouraged the reporter to read our FOIA docket case and educate himself.

It was so sad to see these victims used by the State of Connecticut so that the State can continue to avoid answering questions relating to their role in the psychiatric and drug treatment of Adam Lanza prior to his mass murders and suicide.

Of course, the public doesn’t want to put these families through any further hardship and neither do we. It is the State that uses them for emotional impact to pass unconstitutional laws. These laws do not serve the public but serve to protect special interest groups i.e. the drug companies and psychiatric industry that are donating to these bloated politicians filled with their own sense of importance.

Nothing the State will ever do with bring those children back to their parents. I believe the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy would be shocked to learn the role the State played in the path of Adam Lanza prior to that deadly day.

The fact that the Mayor of Bridgeport, Bill Finch, considers the first amendment right a “maturation” is obviously a statement we fully disagree with and most Americans would as well.

Ablechild Releases FOI Post Hearing Documents

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

Both the State of Connecticut and Ablechild have submitted final documents in post hearing briefs as requested by the FOI Commission. See links below.

2013-9-12 – AbleChild Post-Hearing Brief

STATESLASTSUB

Ablechild’s mission is Informed Consent.   Our goal is to ensure that every parent, caregiver, and decision maker has all the information before placing their children or child onto mind-altering drugs, and to ensure they are told as part of the “reality” of informed consent that psychiatric disorders are subjective in nature – a fact the State of Connecticut seems to want to ignore and seems filled with shame to disclose.

The famous, renowned medical doctor and former Ablechild board member put it best into words.

Dr. William Glasser,  “Clearly to diagnose a mental illness such as those described in the DSM-IV, one of the basic tenets of the medical model is completely ignored. In those instances, mental illness is diagnosed from symptoms alone and no supportive pathology is required. This misuse of the medical model has led to the present ever-increasing assortment of diagnoses and treatments, none of which even comes close to meeting the requirements of medical science.”

Reference: Defining Mental Health as a Public Health Issue, A New leadership role for the helping and teaching professions, William Glasser, M.D. 

Immediately after the Newtown, Sandy Hook mass murder/suicide, Ablechild was contacted not only by parents within Sandy Hook, Newtown, Connecticut but throughout the Country urging us to obtain valuable information to ensure that this type of senseless loss of life never happens again.

Seeing beautiful young babies snubbed out, we committed ourselves to that task.  The post hearing briefs linked within are historical and will forever be within the records of history.  We dedicate our efforts to all parents and children.  We will continue to keep you updated on our efforts.

Sincerely,
Ablechild.org

 

Parents vs. Gov. Malloy for Lanza Medical Records

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

Political Columnist writes on Appeal: Docket 2013-197 Ablechild v. Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner.  Governor Malloy ‘s Attorney General appoints Patrick B. Kwanashie, AAG to oppose the appeal.

For 35 years a political columnist published in a variety of Connecticut newspapers, Don Pesci has been published in the Middletown Press, the Torrington Register Citizen, The Waterbury Republican American, the Norwich Bulletin, the Day of New London, the Journal Inquirer of Manchester, the Providence Journal, and others; his is also the proprietor of a popular blog, Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State, one of the older Connecticut blogs.

http://donpesci.blogspot.com/2013/07/release-criminal-report-and-lanzas.html#more

 

 

Ablechild Confronts CT Governor On Radio Over Newtown Shooter’s Records

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

Ablechild’s Co-Founder, Sheila Matthews, recently hit the radio, where she took on CT Governor, Dan Malloy and his recent move to pass a law to alter the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to prevent the release of the records of the latest school shooter in Newtown.  This move comes as Ablechild awaits a response to its appeal requesting that Adam Lanza’s medical records and toxicology report be released under FOIA in the interest of public safety.

“Viewpoint” will air on Sunday, June 2nd at 7:30am with Tony Savino on WGCH 1490-AM.

Here is the hard hitting audio interview in its entirety.

savino-mathews viewpoint 5-28-13 pt 1

savino-mathews viewpoint 5-28-13 pt 2

 

Legislative Action Alert for May 20th – Connecticut

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Lawmaking.

MONDAY – MAY 20th, HOUSE MEETS, MOMENT OF TRUTH

URGENT ACTION in Connecticut HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES!

Connecticut URGENT ACTION NEEDED! CALLS TO CT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Two dangerous bills pass CT Senate move to House.

FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE: KILL THESE BILLS. LINK BELOW, Copy and paste and add or delete to our suggested letter.

http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/hlist.asp

FIRST BILL:

0652: AN ACT CONCERNING REFERRALS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES TO THE BIRTH-TO-THREE PROGRAM.

To create a pilot program to refer children thirty-six months of age or younger who are the victims of substantiated abuse or neglect to the birth-to-three program.

DEAR REPRESENTATIVE:

I (your name) STRONGLY OPPOSE Senate bill 0652 and Senate bill 0833.

Senate bill 0652, places low income families and their babies that are mandated into the CT State Department of Children and Family Services “at risk” of being trafficked into to drug research and behavioral health research at Yale University.

The “Pilot” program has not been validated as effective or safe. This is “research” children from the department of children and families services are trapped within the State care system and do not have the “right to opt” out of these research “Pilot” programs.

The entire department of children and families services is run by behavioral health vendors who profit off the services given to children within the system. Currently, the only vendors allowed to identify children’s needs and to offer children services are that of psychiatry. This one vendor rule has no accountability for misdiagnosing or drugging children to death, which is part of the current crisis for children utilizing services by the State.

This bill would traffic children into the department of Psychiatry at YALE University under the term “pilot program” with no proven track record to support strong effective informed consent for participants nor gives participants the ability to refuse the services.

Therefore, I request you reject this bill and encourage the break up of the monopoly of service contractors servicing all children within State care. We urge you to watch the Diane Sawyer one year long investigation into the drugging of children within State care, whereas, data used for that investigation was provided through Ablechild from the Connecticut Department of Children and Family Services.

Second Bill for you to reject is Senate Bill 0833

AN ACT ADDRESSING THE MEDICAL NEEDS OF CHILDREN.

To provide the Department of Children and Families or other appointed guardian with the authority to meet the medical and educational needs of a child under an order of temporary care and custody.

Very simple, this bill strips away INFORMED CONSENT rights of children and families fighting to get their children out of state care, waiting for trials or placed in to State care for any other reason. This bill would allow the State to administer dangerous mind altering drugs to children while they are in “temporary” custody. This bill also goes as far as to allow the State to do “surgery” on children while in temporary custody of the State.

There are no legal protections for these children to file claims against the State for Malpractice or treatments that go wrong or were not needed. This allows the State to alter a child’s life while that child is only in temporary custody and rejecting the natural parents ability to participate in decision making in the best interest of the child they gave birth. There is no right to refuse. I strongly oppose this bill and urge you to as well.

http://www.cga.ct.gov/CGAPBTS.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=SB00652
http://www.cga.ct.gov/CGAPBTS.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=SB00833

Any questions please post below. We will gladly answer them right away! Phone calls would be great as well and use our letters above as talking points. These two bills are moving quickly. If you do nothing else today, make a call for the children trapped in Connecticut State care.

At this time we need people calling CT State House Members to kill these bills that traffic our children into dangerous and often deadly treatment plans.

Bill Status
www.cga.ct.gov

CDC’s Questionable Findings

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Lawmaking.

Ablechild’s response to article in the Huffington Post, “Mental Disorders in Children: CDC Releases First-Ever Report”.

After reading the supplement report and an exhausting listing of subjective mental labels, their descriptions, and their definitions according to the industry that created them, studies them, and begs the government for funding of them; Ablechild found it stunning to see the doctor who penned the newly released “supplementary report”, Dr. Ruth Perou gives her opinion on the motives behind the CDC efforts.

“This is a deliberate effort by CDC to show mental health is a health issue. As with any health concern, the more attention we give to it, the better. It’s parents becoming aware of the facts and talking to a healthcare provider about how their child is learning, behaving, and playing with other kids,” Dr. Ruth Perou, the lead author of the study, told Reuters in an interview.

Really?  Ablechild takes issue with her statement and reminds her that the CDC’s mission is not to be the marketing arm for the psychiatric industry, but to collect data to reduce disease.  The CDC including “mental illnesses” into their data collection arena isn’t something Ablechild would normally agree with since the diagnostic process is subjective in nature and they are not diseases.  As you see from the entire introduction and report itself,  it blathers on about surveys and questionnaires, and we can all agree that diseases are not diagnosed by questionnaires and surveys.   Even the NIMH in April came out with a statement invalidating the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual) symptom based model as being unscientific.  However, considering the CDC’s recent release of the skyrocketing numbers of children diagnosed with ADHD (up 53% in the past decade) we can surmise that this serves as an alarming warning of the dangers that this presents to our children’s health and safety.

Ablechild does support the NVDRS (which is completely ignored by Dr. Ruth Perou) which is a state-based surveillance system that links data from law enforcement, coroners and medical examiners, vital statistics, and crime laboratories to assist participating states in designing and implementing tailored prevention and intervention efforts. An incident-based, relational database collects and stores the data and is available free of charge from the NVDRS Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/NVDRS/About-NVDRS.htm#disclaimer .

Ablechild supports this new National Violence Data Reporting System.  This system has the potential to collect data of psychiatric drugs and their link to increased risk of suicide and violence among users.  This is evidence-based and the public needs to ensure that this system is not only set up to capture the data but is accurately maintained and supported by professionals.

 

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/NVDRS/About-NVDRS.htm#disclaimer