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Author: Sheila Matthews

The Hunt For Lanza’s Mental Health Records Becomes Embarrassing For the State

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

The Hunt For Lanza’s Mental Health Records Becomes Embarrassing For the State

According to media reports today, Peter Lanza, father of Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, has had a conversation with the Chairman of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, Scott Jackson, regarding Lanza’s willingness to provide the much needed and, frankly, necessary mental health records of his son.

Oddly enough, it appears that Lanza is the only person who truly understands how important this information is and relayed through Jackson that “he (Lanza) believes that retroactive psychoanalysis is fraught with danger.”

In other words, any psychological autopsy done without having all his son’s medical/mental health  information is nothing but speculation and certainly not worthy of building recommendations for sweeping changes within Connecticut’s mental health services programs.

The joke is that Lanza gave up these records to the police immediately following the shooting and this is reported in the State Police Report. Not only did the police have the information, so did the FBI and the state’s attorney, Stephen Sedensky.

Additionally, medical/mental health records were taken from Nancy Lanza’s home immediately after the shooting. Clearly, it is no secret that investigators have these records. Why then hasn’t the commission requested the records from the investigative bodies?

It is incomprehensible to think that Jackson is forced to go begging to the father of the shooter for these records when they were in the hands of the investigators almost immediately.

More distressing is that fact that the state’s attorney knows much more than has been released. Recall that as a result of Ablechild’s law suit to obtain Lanza’s mental health/full toxicology records, we were told by the State’s Assistant Attorney General, Patrick B. Kwanashie, that the reason for not releasing Lanza’s medical records was because it “would cause a lot of people to stop taking their medications.”

Where did Kwanashie get that information?  What medications would people “stop taking” if Lanza’s records were made public?  And, in fact, is it because of the medications that Lanza had been prescribed that there appears to be an effort to suppress this information?

Furthermore, recall that the state Office of the Child Advocate was tasked with investigating the deaths at Sandy Hook and requested “any and all records, and all communications Newtown School personnel and any and all entities.”  After having issued a subpoena to obtain those records, there is no follow-up as to whether the Office of the Child Advocate ever got them.  But, it is one more avenue that the commission may take advantage of.

What is certain is that at least the last five years of Lanza’s mental health records are unaccounted for and they are absolutely necessary if the commission is to make any recommendations about the State’s mental health care system.

What also is certain is that the “hunt” for Adam Lanza’s mental health records is becoming embarrassing.  Ablechild would suggest that the commission talk to the investigative bodies, Dr. Robert King of the Yale Child Study Center, Dr. Paul Fox, the Office of the Child Advocate, and the Assistant Attorney General, Patrick Kwanashie.  The records exist. Finding out why they are being treated as a “State Secret” is another matter.

Foster Care in Connecticut Conflicts of Interest

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Foster Care, Public School.

Foster Care in Connecticut and Conflicts of Interest

Today the  Connecticut Mirror ran an article that for any eight grader would be confusing. Supposedly, the State Department of Children and Family Services, DCF, isn’t meeting federal standards when it comes to the State’s Foster Care System.

However, beneath the service what the story really appears to be is special interest groups looking for increased funding, specifically mental health funding.

Interestingly, in 2011 Ablechild wrote about the conflicts of interest that permeate the Foster Care system and, again, these same special interests are rearing their ugly heads in search increased mental health funding.

Worse, it appears that these special interest groups are jumping on the Sandy Hook mental health gravy train. As is well known, in the wake of Sandy Hook, the State will be considering increased funding for increased mental health services for the state.

Although the federal monitor believed that “system-level problems persist” in the State’s Foster Care system, Ablechild finds it odd that despite a decrease in the number of children in the state’s Foster Care system, and praise from the Department of Health and Human Services, federal agency that oversees Foster Care, that there is now a huge push for increased funding.

Regardless of what strides have been made in the State’s Foster Care system, it appears that the vast majority of funds that may be appropriated most certainly will be for additional mental health services.

Ablechild agrees with Raymond Mancuso, the federal court monitor, when he said “the problem has intensified.”  But deferring to special interest groups with conflict of interest issues, and throwing money into increased mental health funding won’t address any of the stated problems within the system.

 

The Fight for Lanza’s Mental Health Records Gets Crazier

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

The Fight for Lanza’s Mental Health Records Gets Crazier

Today’s Hartford Courant reported two important pieces of information. First, Peter Lanza, apparently is willing “to turn over at least some of Newtown shooter Adam Lanza’s treatment records.” And, secondly, the Courant apparently interviewed Dr. Fred R. Volkmar, Chairman of the Yale Child Study Center.

While Ablechild earlier applauded Peter Lanza for his willingness to provide the all important information about his son’s mental health treatment, to learn now that only “some” of the records will be made available seems an enormous waste of time. Seriously, what good to anyone is a partial record of Adam Lanza’s mental health treatment?

In fact, the State Police Report of the shooting incident also provided only partial records of Lanza’s mental health treatment and now the Commission set up by Governor Dannel P. Malloy, to make recommendations about possible changes to the State’s mental health system, still is going to be left with partial information.

Recall that the State Police Report only provided spotty information about Lanza’s mental health treatment up to the age of 15, leaving out Lanza’s 2005 admission to the Danbury Hospital.  Five years, from age 15 to twenty, are missing. What happened to those records? Why didn’t investigators think those records would be important?

The last known treatment for Lanza was from the Yale Child Study Center, and that was not a positive outcome. Nancy Lanza reported to Yale that Adam was experiencing an adverse reaction to the psychiatric drug, Celexa,  prescribed by Yale. Nancy Lanza apparently did not return to the Yale Child Study Center after that incident.

The point of the Commission contacting Peter Lanza was to get a complete picture in order to make informed decisions.  Now to learn that only “some” of the records will be provided leaves more questions than answers.  Is it possible that the Commission can make informed decisions based on partial records? No, of course not. So why the dog and pony show?

Furthermore,  one has to wonder why anyone from the Yale Child Study Center is involved in any part of this discussion.  Given that this outfit apparently provided the last known mental health treatment to Lanza, doesn’t this seem like a conflict of interest?

After all, according to the State Police Report, it was Dr. Robert A. King of the Yale Child Study Center who indicated “that serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) agents such as Zoloft, Luvox, Celexa, Lexapro or Paxil, are useful in reducing these symptoms, sometimes in conjunction with a low dose of an atypical neuroleptic such as Risperidone.”

This is the question. Was Adam Lanza prescribe drugs other Celexa by the Yale Child Study Center. More than that, during the course of Adam’s life, what psychiatric drugs was he prescribed?  What is known is that Adam was treated over many years, by many mental health care practitioners, for his disorders.

Adam’s primary psychiatrist was Dr. Paul Fox, who, in 2012, surrendered his license to practice in Connecticut and New York, destroyed his records and moved to New Zealand.  Clearly, Dr. Fox cannot provide the Commission with any records, which then puts greater burden on Peter Lanza.  Why?

The State Police Report lists medical records for Adam, which were taken from the Lanza home immediately after the shooting incident.  Is it possible that Nancy Lanza had in her possession no records for Adam’s mental health treatment for the last five years of his life?  Common sense says no.

Where are these records, and  why hasn’t the Commission contacted the State Police requesting all the records that were taken from the Lanza home?  One would think that Governor Malloy, if he’s serious about instituting new mental health regulations, would have some pull in this request.

With every new article written about the Commission’s efforts to obtain Adam Lanza’s mental health records, the story gets crazier. The Commission must be able to review all of Lanza’s mental health records or what’s the point?  It still is only a partial picture. Making recommendations based on “some” of Lanza’s mental health records isn’t serving the State.

 

 

 

Lanza’s Medical Records Too Many Unanswered Questions

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

Lanza’s Medical Records Too Many Unanswered Questions

The Hartford Courant reported today that the father of the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, is willing to release his son’s medical records to the Commission tasked with making possible changes to the State’s mental health services.

While Ablechild applauds Peter Lanza’s willingness to assist the State, the offer, and reporting of it by The Courant, raises important questions.  It also, unfortunately, reveals big, Grand Canyon size, holes in the official investigations.

As is well known, Ablechild spent the last year mired in State stall tactics in response to the organization’s request for Adam Lanza’s medical/mental health/toxicology records, which are key to understanding the motive for the tragic assault at Sandy Hook, and also whether any changes need to be made to the State’s mental health services.

The result of Ablechild’s exhaustive efforts was the State’s Assistant Attorney General, Patrick B. Kwanashie, explaining that the reason for withholding Lanza’s medical records was because it “would cause a lot of people to stop taking their medications.“

Really, which “medications?”  Clearly, the State has information, and great concerns, about medications Lanza had been taking. Why else would the Assistant Attorney General make such an astonishing statement?

Ablechild publicly released this information, as did other news organizations. However, despite what can be called extensive coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting incident and its aftermath by The Courant, the news organization apparently did not find the information important enough to report it to its readers, let alone do any follow-up.

This is odd given The Courant’s inside knowledge of Lanza’s medical records.  In June of 2013, six months after the shooting incident at Sandy Hook, (about the same time Ablechild began making official requests for Lanza’s records) The Courant ran a piece title, Adam Lanza’s Medical Records Reveal Growing Anxiety.

According to the article, “The Courant obtained exclusive information from medical and school records that have for months been kept secret by agencies investigating the shootings.  The documents span Lanza’s life from birth to age 18, including a September 2005 medical summary of the Danbury Hospital emergency room visit.”

The Courant’s admission of having inside information about Lanza’s medical records is extremely important now that both the State’s Attorney General and State Police have issued their respective reports on the shooting incident.

Most important is the fact that neither of the official reports mention Lanza’s 2005 Danbury Hospital emergency room visit, leaving one to question why this particular information would be left out of official investigative reports, especially in light of the fact that The Courant already had made it public.

In fact, no medical/mental health information about Lanza is provided in either report after 2007, when Adam would have been fifteen years old. The last acknowledged mental health treatment was provided by the Yale Child Studies Center when Adam was fifteen years old, abruptly ending in February of 2007. Apparently, Nancy Lanza had reported to Kathleen Koenig that there had been an adverse reaction to the psychiatric drug, Celexa, Adam had been prescribed by the Yale Center.

Neither of the investigative reports mention any mental health treatment after this Yale incident for the five years leading up to the shooting.

Having announced that the newspaper was in possession of Lanza’s medical records until the age of 18, the question, then, is what additional information does The Courant have regarding Lanza’s medical/mental health treatment?  The Courant reports to having three years of information beyond what has been made available by the official investigations.

Furthermore, according to the same article in The Courant, it “obtained exclusive information from medical and school records that have for months been kept secret by agencies investigating the shootings.”   The Courant appears to be reporting that the investigative agencies were in possession of this “secret” medical information but, apparently, failed to make it part of either investigation? Why?

Beyond what, if any, additional information The Courant may be able to provide about Lanza’s mental health treatment, one also has to wonder why the Commission is left begging the father of the shooter for information that should have been made public as part of the investigation.

Certainly, one would expect that, in order to form a legitimate, informed, opinion about what may have been the motive for the attack, both of the official investigations would have requested and then were provided all of Lanza’s medical/mental health records. One might assume this information is the “secret” records that The Courant reported.

And, in fact, both of the investigative reports reveal that medical/mental health records were obtained from the Lanza home and also from Peter Lanza directly after the incident.

Why, then, is this State sponsored Commission getting the run-around?  Either both official investigative teams asked for, and received, all of Lanza’s medical/mental health records, or they didn’t.  Has the Commission even asked this question?  Has The Courant asked the question?

Additionally, Ablechild spent three full days reviewing every single sheet of paper made available in the State Police Report. Yes, it was frustrating.  Due to the extensive duplication of documents and heavy redactions, the report provided little in the way of answers, but nothing so difficult as to require the assistance of a law firm.

More to the point, the law firm that apparently is tasked with making sense of the documents for the Commission, very likely could have a major conflict of interest.  According to the attorney for the Commission, Daniel J. Klau, his law firm, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, is working on the documents.

Klau’s law firm represents no less than 19 pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, Novartis, Abbott and Johnson & Johnson.  For the sake of argument, let’s assume the Commission obtains all of Lanza’s medical/mental health records and they reveal that Lanza had been prescribed one or several drugs, including a drug produced by one of the pharmaceutical companies Klau and his law firm represent. That clearly would be a conflict of interest.  Will Klau (and his law firm) recuse himself?

In fact, because State’s Assistant Attorney General, Patrick B. Kwanashie has made it abundantly clear that “medications” are involved in this case, it would seem logical to request that the entire Commission disclose all personal and professional ties to the pharmaceutical industry and, if appropriate, remove themselves from the Commission.

Frankly, an investigation that provides no medical/mental health information about the last five years of the shooter’s life is embarrassing.

The fact that Lanza’s primary psychiatrist, Dr. Fox, destroyed his records and fled the country is, at best, suspicious.

That the official investigative reports did not make public Lanza’s medical/mental health records is a scandal.

The fact that the State created Commission, tasked with making recommendations about the future of State mental health services, is left relying on the shooter’s father for medical/mental health data, is also a scandal.

It is time for full disclosure in every aspect of this case and Adam Lanza’s medical/mental health/full toxicology reports must be made public.

The victims, their families, and the people of Connecticut deserve all the truth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Governor’s Newtown Panel Stymied by Lanza’s Missing Mental Health Records

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

Sandy Hook Advisory Committee Stymied by Lanza’s Missing
Mental Health Records

Say it isn’t so.  The Chairman of the Sandy Hook Advisory Committee, Scott Jackson, doesn’t have the medical/mental health records of Adam Lanza, which are necessary for his committee to make appropriate recommendations for changes to the State’s mental health system.

This is really old news to Ablechild.  Having spent nearly a year utilizing every legislative and legal avenue available to make public the toxicology, medical and mental health records of Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, Ablechild was stymied by State officials at every step.

Yes, Ablechild is empathetic to the difficulties Jackson is having obtaining this important information, which is key to making – or not making – changes to the State’s mental health system.

Interestingly, Jackson has hired a law firm to comb through the thousands of pages released by the State Police. What law firm and at what cost to Connecticut taxpayers?  It only took Ablechild three days to review the redundant and heavily redacted documents within the State Police Report.  Nevertheless, Jackson apparently has read enough of the report to start asking questions.

According to Jackson, “one of the things that we really talked about quite a bit was that we need to understand the story of Adam Lanza and Nancy Lanza and we really don’t have it.” In particular, Jackson said “in order to understand how we got to where he was from a treatment standpoint, they’re going to need a little bit more.”

“A little bit more?”  With all due respect, the Committee needs more than a “little bit” of information.  Other than providing a few psychiatric diagnoses, and the mention of one psychiatric drug prescribed to Lanza, there are no specifics provided about the shooter’s mental health treatment.

In fact, it’s fair to say that more is known about the mental health records that were destroyed by Lanza’s primary psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Fox, than what mental health treatment Lanza received.  Worse still, the last five years of Lanza’s mental health services is nonexistent.

According to the data provided by both the State Attorney’s office and the State Police Report- literally thousands of pages – there is zero mention of any mental health services provided to Lanza after 2007. Why?

And, with what little information is provided, why are physician treatment “summaries” provided in the recently released State Police Report?  Wouldn’t the actual comments of those psychiatrists treating Lanza be of more help to the Committee than a detective’s summation?

Dr. Harold Schwartz, psychiatrist and member of the Committee, understands the importance of hearing directly from the “horse’s mouth.”  “It’s better,” said Schwartz, “than nothing to have these summaries, but these summaries are not by clinical people.”

Schwartz opines that it may be necessary to contact the shooter’s father, Peter Lanza, to obtain the necessary records.  Why?  Wouldn’t the investigative bodies already have requested and obtained these records?  If not, it seems odd that both investigations would conclude they were unable to find a motive for the attack without first having considered Lanza’s complete mental health treatment record.

Additionally, in May of 2013, Peter Lanza signed a PeterLanzaConsent PeterLanzaConsent form allowing the State Medical Examiner to make public his son’s toxicology report.  Why, then, has the full toxicology report been withheld?

Furthermore, it may serve the Advisory Committee members well to speak with Assistant Attorney General, Patrick B. Kwanashie, who explained during the Ablechild Freedom of Information hearing that the reason for withholding Lanza’s toxicology report was because it “would cause a lot of people to stop taking their medications.”

Sounds like Kwanashie has the inside track on Lanza’s mental health records.  But if that avenue fails to produce results, given that it was his idea to set up the Advisory Committee, perhaps Governor Malloy could pull some strings with his own agencies.

The bottom line is that without reviewing Lanza’s complete mental health record, there is no way the Advisory Committee can, or should, make any decisions about instituting changes to the State’s mental health services.

 

The Sandy Hook Investigation and the “YALE Folder.”

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook.

Since the mental health bombshell released last week by the Connecticut State Police that Adam Lanza’s psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Fox, had destroyed Adam Lanza’s records, had sex with patients, and moved to New Zealand, additional questions about Lanza’s mental health treatment are surfacing.

Nancy Lanza had written an email to Dr. Fox on February 1, 2007, advising him that she wished Fox to “take the lead role” in treatment he would be receiving at the Yale Child Studies Center.

The State Police report reveals that the YALE Child Studies Center had evaluated and treated Lanza from October 2006-February 2007. Given that Lanza’s mental health records abruptly end in February of 2007- four months after beginning treatment with the Yale Child Studies Center- one has to wonder what happened.

More odd is that the treatment at Yale reportedly ended just six days after Nancy Lanza’s email to Fox, asking him to “take the lead.”

The last report from the Yale Child Studies Center in February 2007 was that Nancy Lanza had decided to discontinue the prescribed antidepressant, Celexa, as she believed Adam was experiencing an adverse reaction to the drug.

Is it possible that after more than ten years of seeking mental health assistance for Adam that Nancy Lanza decided to just stop, especially since by all accounts Lanza’s condition was getting worse, not better?

Other than prescribing mind-altering drugs, what other treatment did Lanza receive at the Yale Child Studies Center?  Was Lanza participating in a clinical study of some kind?

It’s difficult to know, as there simply is no information made available about Lanza’s mental health after his brief treatment at the Yale Child Studies Center.

Given Nancy Lanza’s documented devotion to obtaining mental health services for Adam, it seems bizarre that the State Police report fails to provide information about the last five years of mental health records.

In light of the article dated June 30, 2013 by The Hartford Currant, stating that the paper had access to Lanza’s medical records from birth to age 18, it becomes more curious that the official State Police report would fail to make these records public.

 

Presidential Executive Orders in Mental Health: A History of Failures

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Lawmaking.

Numerous Presidential Executive orders and millions in appropriations for Mental Health in Connecticut have produced nothing but failure and may actually be harmful. Hundreds-of-millions more tax dollars have been promised with no hope of real change.   Despite the enormous amount of money being funneled into mental health, the big return seems to be little more than semantics – merely changing words rather than policy.

The State of Connecticut was one of 13 States to receive a federal “mental health transformation” grant under President Bush. The grant was issued as an executive order to “transform” the broken mental health system and was funded through 2010.  And, what was the return on the investment?  Connecticut suffers the largest mass murder/suicide in United States history within years of this “new improved mental health delivery system.”

Patricia Rehmer, the Commissioner of Mental Health in Connecticut, touts on her resume the fact she had oversight of the $13.7 million granted to Connecticut to then revamp the mental health delivery system.  Ablechild participated in all the committee hearings on that grant and called for disclosure to the consumer on the link between the increased risk of suicide, violence and psychiatric drugs.  Ablechild encouraged the State to educate the public on the MEDWATCH program, and to provide alternatives to psychiatric drugs and forced mental health services.  Ablechild also wrote to then Governor Rell requesting an accounting of how the funds were distributed and whether the public would be advised of the results. The Governor denied Ablechild’s request.

Despite tens-of-millions poured into the State’s mental health system with little or no accountability as to how those funds were spent, in the wake of Sandy Hook, President Obama has promised another $100 million thru an executive order to “make it easier to access mental health services.”  That’s great. But what happened to the $13.7 million from President Bush’s grant?

Are you doing the math?  Are you following the insane process?

On December 20, 2012, within weeks of the Sandy Hook shooting, Senator Scott Frantz stated on WCBS to Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau that mental health providers will get a “slight boost” in the wake of the shootings and will have no funding cuts despite the fact that, “it has not been determined if there was direct connection between that and the massacre.”

Recall that Lanza’s mental health, educational records, and full toxicology report are being withheld from the public by the state of Connecticut.

The push, apparently, is to use this $100 million dollars to improve access to mental health services. However, according to the Hartford Courant’s article of June 20, 2013, Adam Lanza’s Medical Records Reveal Growing Anxiety” Lanza did have access to mental health services for many years. Lanza had been “screened” and released as not being a harm to himself or others.

Ablechild is taking the lead in calling for Lanza’s records to be made public, which will be crucial during the upcoming Connecticut legislative session.  The goal is to protect public safety and stop the mismanagement of taxpayer funds.  Is the increased mental health helping or hurting the public? Not everyone is convinced that more money spent on mental health access will have a positive effect – at least, to date, the State cannot prove that the tens-of-millions spent so far has shown any improvement.

For example, Dr. Hank Schwarts, psychiatrist-in-chief of the Institute of Living in Hartford said in regard to mental health issues, “to write a report now, with what we have, would almost be embarrassing.”http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-state-police-drag-feet-on-newtown-report-20131224,0,6056179.story

 

Ablechild Supporters

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Lawmaking.

Dear Ablechild Supporters,

It has been an amazing year!  Your help has brought the mission of Informed Consent relating to psychiatric drugs to a new level.  In order to keep up the continued fight, we are in need of your generous donations.

We are one of the only organizations in the United States that has been on the front lines of this war against our basic parental rights.  One of the most fierce engagements we had was with the State of Connecticut over the disclosure of Adam Lanza’s mental health, special education, and toxicology report.  We appeared before the freedom of information commission and forced the State to admit the reason why they did not want to disclose the records.

Our website continues to receive increased traffic and the media often seeks us out for our opinion.  This upcoming legislative session in Connecticut and throughout the Country will be totally focused on mental health.  The multi-billion dollar mental health and drug industry will be setting the agenda, we cannot let this happen.  Their agenda has already been spelled out to massively screen ALL children within the public education system for mental illnesses.  As we know, there is no test.   It is totally subjective and will traffic children into an unmanageable whirlwind of drug use.  As we have witnessed time and again the deadly school shootings ending with the shooter’s suicide, we cannot stand by and allow this to happen.

Although the economy is in a deep recession, we cannot think of a better cause then to stop the violence these drugs are inducing into our society.  We urge you to support Ablechild and its continued mission of informed consent by making a year end contribution that is tax deductible.  Knowledge is power, share the information.

We wish you a healthy and happy New Year.

The Ablechild Team

 

 

 

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.