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“All Must Make Effort to Prevent Child Abuse”

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Articles.

Patricia Weathers
President
www.ablechild.org
(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

 “The State of Connecticut Should Take Its Own Advice”

The State of Connecticut should be practicing what it preaches and work harder at preventing abuse of children in state care. A good place to start would be to ban the use of all psychiatric drugs linked to suicide and violence that are currently mandated out to a large percentage of the children in state Care. In addition, another good step would be for the state to stop trafficking children from the Department of Children and Families into clinical drug trials.

The community and taxpayers give millions of dollars to fund State mental health programs to prevent child abuse. How is prevention possible when the State’s failure to warn potential clients and its own use of forced “treatment” is occurring? After all, this is part of the package that Connecticut taxpayers are paying for. Realistically, funding to prevent child abuse would not be a bad thing if the State was held accountable for ensuring that proper and full informed consent is provided to parents, caregivers, and children prior to any mental health “treatment.” The State’s failure in this area involves the fact that it fails to warn potential recipients of mental health “treatment” of the real risks of psychiatric drugs, the lack of objective testing surrounding psychiatric disorders as a whole, and the fact that a psychiatric diagnosis may mask a real underlying medical, educational, or environmental problem. The State goes a step further by not providing a person his or her basic right to “opt out” of “treatment”. In turn, force fed mental health programs are the norm, the standard of care for children within state care. The State has assumed the rights of these children, without question.

Let us be honest with ourselves. We should at this point be well aware of the fact that there is no accountability from the State on the issue of forced drugging within the Department of Children & Families (DCF). This is proven in the fact that our organization, Ablechild, had to petition the State back in 2003 in order for the it to remove two drugs, Paxil and Effexor, that were linked to suicide, not FDA approved for use in children, and that were being used on children in state care. Just months later, GlaxoSmithKline, makers of the drug Paxil, was invited by DCF to participate in policy meetings on psychotropic drugs used on children within the Department. The FDA had warned that “Paxil” should not be used in children; the United Kingdom has banned its use. In November 2002, FOX National News, exposed confidential documents from GlaxoSmithKline which suggested that a patient taking the drug was 8 times more likely to commit suicide then a patient on placebo (sugar pill). Ablechild immediately put in a request to the Governor’s office that it wanted to attend those meetings to allow for equal access and fair representation of the issue that was to be discussed. Their request was denied. At the time, the Governor indicated that the decision was made by Ms. Darlene Dunbar, the head of the Department of Children & Families. Ms. Dunbar advocated on behalf of the psychiatric industry and the drug companies. There was no one present to advocate on behalf of the children who were baring the brunt of “treatment” forced upon them in state care.

Ablechild is currently watching important legislation, H.B. 5179, that if passed, would protect the basic human rights of all children within state care by preventing any forced or mandated psychiatric “treatments” or programs onto them. It also hopes to have the State recognize the importance of informed consent and adhere to it. The Organization will continue to ask for accountability until this end is realized.

With all due respect, the State should begin using the taxpayer’s dollars more wisely by repairing its mental health system and its own clear and obvious abuses of children within State Care.

For more information on state psychiatric abuse within foster care, please visit us at www.ablechild.org.

Battle of the Bills in Florida Forced Drugging vs. Informed Consent for Parents

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Articles.

Patricia Weathers
President
www.ablechild.org
(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

 The issue of psychiatric drugs and children is once again being challenged. The Nation has its eyes on Florida , where there are two bills that define the legal debate behind behavioral modification drugs used on children. This debate involves full informed consent and the right to refuse psychiatric “treatment.” Senate Bill 1090 “Relating to Minors/Psychotropic Medication” is aimed at allowing the State of Florida to give a Judge the ability to determine which child receives psychotropic “medication” and which child does not. In contrast, Senate Bill 1766 “Relating to School Students/Psychotropic Medication” would ensure informed consent and the constitutional right to refuse psychiatric “treatment.” Overall this bill would protect the rights of the child and the family.

Senate Bill 1090’s overall goal is to rip the informed consent away from the parent and family and exploit the most vulnerable population of children, those in State Care. This bill also allows for a judge to over-rule the parent’s consent if that parent declines psychiatric “treatment” for their child.

Senate Bill 1766 supports a parent’s right to full disclosure that must include the fact that there is no medical test for a psychiatric disorder, and that the child’s behaviors could be the result of underlying physical conditions. This would safeguard the vital interests of children and would provide critical information to parents and caregivers, and their ability to make an informed decision regarding the health and safety of their children.

Florida has entered the battle zone. The rest of the nation will watch as basic human rights are on the line. Now we wait for the people to speak.

Which bill will prevail?

For more information on how you can help protect children and their constitutional rights visit us at www.ablechild.org.

Calls for Federal Investigation into Antidepressants Role in Red Lake Minnesota School Shooting

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Articles.

Patricia Weathers
President
www.ablechild.org
(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

 Ablechild has submitted a written request to the United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota, as well as the FDA, requesting a full investigation into the latest School Shooting linked to Antidepressant use that took place on the Red Lake Reservation in RED LAKE , Minnesota on March 23, 2005. Jeff Weise was taking Prozac when he unleashed his wrath, first at his grandfather, and then at fellow students and teachers in his school ending with him turning the gun on himself. This latest rampage eerily mirrors the many other adolescent school shootings, which have raged havoc on this great nation, and of which the “common denominator” has been psychiatric drugs linked to violence.

This fact demonstrates that this is not mere coincidence, but an emerging pattern that compromises public safety. The public is becoming educated to this emerging pattern, and with that comes outrage and frustration directed in part at the FDA for failing the public, by continuing to turn a blind eye to the all so obvious link to violence and mania that these drugs are having on our youth, and even more, their deadly link to uncontrolled school terror that has occurred from coast to coast.

Ablechild has previously requested that the FDA provide accountability, where there is none. Accountability is critical now, more than ever, to ensure public safety as a whole.

Ablechild points to the fact that “After 16 years of denial, a series of Eli Lilly (the maker of the drug Prozac) documents that have recently surfaced publicly shows the company’s own review of Prozac in 1988. This review, by Lilly themselves, reveals that even in controlled clinical trials–from which suicidal patients are excluded — 38% of patients taking Prozac compared to 19% of patients on placebo experienced “activation.” Their term “activation” is used to describe violent and or suicidal behavior. The authenticity of the Lilly-Prozac documents has not been disputed.”

See: http://www.ahrp.org/infomail/05/01/27.php.

The link to violence associated with antidepressants is the writing on the wall for all now to see, a link that for well over a decade has been present, but has been willfully and deliberately ignored by those with vested interests in, and ties to, the multi billion dollar pharmaceutical profiteering occurring within this nation. This profiteering, time and time again, continues to override the health and safety of the public.

This “writing on the wall” is further confirmed by the FDA’s own thorough independent examination of all the clinical trial data of the SSRI antidepressants reported to the FDA, in April 2004, which led to the FDA requiring that all antidepressant drugs, including Prozac, carry explicit warnings, referred to as “blackbox,” that apply to anyone taking these antidepressants. These warnings point to the obvious, which is, that not all these drugs are as “safe” or as “mild,” as drug companies, and those with financial ties to drug companies, would have the public believe them to be.

According to the FDA’s own admission, these drugs are associated with very real risks.

“The emergence of anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility (aggressiveness), impulsivity, akathisia (psychomotor restlessness), hypomania, and mania have been reported in adult and pediatric patients being treated with antidepressants…” See: http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/antidepressants/default.htm

Dr. Steven Galson, from the FDA has received our organization’s request for the FDA to launch a full investigation into this urgent matter, immediately. Ablechild strongly urges all to fax Dr. Galson with a request for a formal public statement into this matter. In addition, we urge every individual to request that the FDA conduct a full investigation into the school shootings occurring nationwide, and their link to antidepressant induced violence, mania, and terror. This terror must end, accountability is long overdue.

Dr. Steven Galson
Fax: 301-594-6197
FDA phone number is 301-594-5400

For more information on antidepressants and associated “blackbox” warnings, mental health concerns regarding children and psychiatric drugs go to www.ablechild.org.

Connecticut Education Committee Fails to Take Up Parental Informed Consent Bill. Parental rights are ignored, with no public hearing in sight

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Articles.

Patricia Weathers
President
www.ablechild.org
(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

  Hartford, Connecticut Legislative Education Committee failed to act on a parental informed consent bill that would ensure that parents receive full informed consent prior to any psychiatric testing being done on their children in public schools. This bill HB #5328 was written to safeguard parental rights and would have ensured that each parent be provided with certain regulations and amendments, informing them of their basic right to “opt out” of psychiatric testing for their children through state public schools. Connecticut was a frontrunner in protecting parental rights, by being the first state to pass a law to prohibit schools from recommending psychotropic drugs to parents for their children. This first state law prompted several other states to take similar action in response to a parental outcry, in which reports by parents of schools coercing them to place their children on psychotropic drugs (e.g. Ritalin) to remain in school became all too common. The states’ response and chain reaction, in turn, led to similar Federal legislation, “The Prohibition on Mandatory Medication Amendment,” signed into law by the President December 3, 2004.

This informed consent bill comes on the heels of many disturbing occurrences, which have brought the issue of labeling and “medicating” children national attention. Just last year the FDA launched two sets of hearings into the safety and efficacy of antidepressants in children. In response to these hearings a massive Federal Congressional hearing was convened on this same matter, as well as, to review the FDA’s lack of accountability and financial conflicts of interest. More recent events show Health Canada suspending its marketing of Adderall XR, a psychotropic drug and stimulant used in the “treatment” of ADHD, due to related deaths.

In the wake of so much turmoil and grave concerns, an informed consent bill, looks like a safety net where there is none. The bottom line is that parents cannot make educated decisions without being provided with all the facts. Today, schools continue to profile children for mental disorders like ADHD by using subjective checklists, rating scales, or assessments, not even endorsed or approved by local, state or federal government. Parents are not being told this. These same subjective psychiatric assessments for ADHD were removed from the state of Neuvo Leon in Mexico last year by the Secretary of Education herself, due to their subjective and unscientific nature.

The culmination of events questioning the safety and efficacy of behavior modifying drugs on children, and the subjective assessments used in psychiatric diagnoses, should not be discounted. Everyone needs to be asking why the state’s education committee blatantly has turned a blind eye to parental rights, and has disregarded widespread concerns without providing for a hearing on this matter.

More pointedly, we should be asking why America , or her states, is not ensuring parental rights and protecting children’s health and safety.

For more information on ADHD, informed consent, and mental health within education please visit our site at www.ablechild.org.

“Full Access” to Mental Health Failed Pittman Boy

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in MedWatch, Violence.

Patricia Weathers
President
www.ablechild.org
(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

 Excerpt: “Didn’t Your Brain have to tell you to Do it?” State’s Attorney questioned the gun expert In the State of South Carolina vs. Pittman

The Christopher Pittman tragedy is being played out in America this week in a small South Carolina courtroom where he is standing trial for the shooting deaths of his grandparents over three years ago. Now, a fifteen year old slender, inconspicuous boy, Christopher is being tried as an adult for the crime which he committed at age twelve, a crime that the defense can legitimately argue was induced by the drug, Zoloft, long suspected of causing possible mania and psychotic episodes and recently linked to suicide ideation.

Pfizer, the maker of the drug Zoloft appeared in court earlier in the week asking that the judge exclude from the defense, certain documents pertaining to their drug, arguing that these documents were “subject to protective orders” in another civil case. This is reminiscent of the October 2004 Congressional Hearings where Pfizer, along with other pharmaceutical giants, was mandated by the Committee to disclose all negative clinical data regarding its SSRI class antidepressant, data which had previously been withheld from the FDA and from the General Public.

At the same time, as the state attempts to prosecute this boy and eradicate any responsibility that this drug had on his mind at the time of the crime, it must dispute the growing evidence linking the drug with violence and mania. It must then prove safety and efficacy for the use in children. The state’s job looks insurmountable considering the FDA itself did not approve Zoloft for use in children.

The State’s gun expert showed the jury how to load and shoot the gun that was used to commit the crime. This demonstration led to a revealing question posed by the State’s own attorney, Barney Giese, “Doesn’t your brain have to tell you to do it?” For better or worse, the state finds itself in a dilemma, relying on psychiatrists own admissions that the drug Zoloft changes brain chemistry and alters human behavior.

Christopher Pittman did not arrive at this courtroom solely by his own actions, others bear responsibility. This boy had “full access” to mental health “treatment” with no barriers. This “full access” altered the course of his life. As Christopher Pittman faces life in prison, one must wonder: If he did not receive this questionable mental health “treatment”, would the outcome be the same? More precisely, as disturbing as it is, it is not where Christopher Pittman goes from here, but where he has been.

For further information regarding antidepressant risks in use in children and legal cases pending visit www.ablechild.org

Lt. Governor Sullivan Throws Connecticut Taxpayers’ Money to the Wind, Proposing $34 Million Dollars on State Mental Health.

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Lawmaking.

Patricia Weathers
President
www.ablechild.org
(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

 Some Connecticut residents call Sullivan’s new proposal just plain wasteful spending, exorbitant plans for throwing Connecticut’s money away without addressing the immediate need for an overhaul in what they deem is a Broken Mental Health system.

Hartford , Connecticut . Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan’s recent press release “Sullivan Unveils Mental Health Reform Package” has raised more than a few eyebrows across the state from children right advocates, as well as from victims of mental health abuse. Sullivan proposes to spend a whopping $34 Million on mental health in a one-year period alone. This money would be spent on additional services and programs without addressing the need for reforms in many areas of the current mental health system. This added funding for areas that have not proved themselves successful should be viewed critically and be cause for great public concern.

To give observers an inside view of the current system and its expenditures, they need only look at the many departments offering mental health services to the public.

Currently the State’s Department of Social Services has operating expenses of just under $200 million. This department carries program expenses, many of which are mental health based, of over $3.5 billion per year. The Connecticut Department of Children and Family Services both have operating expenses at over ½ a billion dollars per year. This spending is taking place without any accountability. Lack of accountability is two-fold, comprising of the State’s own failure to hold the department heads, as well as the many vendors of mental health services and programs accountable for justifying the need for the mental health programs/services that they are using and or soliciting. Furthermore the State is failing to hold all those providing mental health programs/services to the highest standards, by not requiring them to provide comprehensive reports demonstrating their success rates.

To spend additional money on any mental health services without seeing a track record for programs and or services already offered within the State should alarm all Connecticut taxpayers.

Ablechild, a national grassroots parent organization, with members in Connecticut advocating for both children and parental rights, had the opportunity to attend and testify at one of Lt. Governor Sullivan’s town hall meetings.

Ablechild was eager to share its concerns regarding the protection of human rights and the critical need for expanding mental health services beyond that of psychiatry, asking for the State to consider advocates and vendors employing non-drug and non-invasive programs/services for parents and children throughout the state. Alarmingly this town hall meeting consisted mostly of current mental health vendors asking for more money. What was obvious was that there was little evidence of success in their current programs with a basic lack of both new ideas and different types of strategies that might turn an obvious failed approach around.

“Lack of accountability is a big part of mental health and is a huge problem right now. The public should be aware and informed of all mental health programs being offered by the State. This would entail a disclosure of whether or not a program or service is successful or not. The fact that we are allowing what is equivalent to frivolous spending on programs that have not been proven successful should not be allowed to continue,” said Ms. Sheila Matthews, National Vice President of Ablechild and a Connecticut resident concerned with informed consent and the right to privacy. Ms. Matthews has advocated in Connecticut on behalf of victims of mental health abuse, many of whom have come to Ablechild for help in regards to mental health services forced upon them by State agencies and vendors receiving state mental health funds.

The question that should be raised from all of this is: When do we say enough is enough? Are we going to allow this ridiculous amount of spending without accountability to continue? Or are we going to put our foot down and hold those responsible, for truly providing us with higher standards? Accountability and honesty is what all citizens and residents of Connecticut should be demanding from the State. Anything less is simply not enough.

To read more on mental health and current abuse within mental health, please go to www.ablechild.org.

Blue Cross Issues Warnings to Doctors Prescribing Drugs with Suicide Links. Will Insurance Companies Continue to Deny Death Protections for Suicide Victims?

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Lawmaking, MedWatch.

Patricia Weathers
President
www.ablechild.org
(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

 News that Blue Cross Insurance are warning physicians to exercise care and caution when prescribing antidepressants comes as no surprise in lieu of the recent antidepressant crisis that has plagued America for so long now and has recently come to a swift and direct result. Scrambling for damage control is a normal response under the circumstances by insurance companies nationwide. Blue Cross simply follows suit. Their actions should be viewed cautiously and with enough skepticism from those many Americans left victimized and harmed by antidepressant use. Many want to believe that insurance companies are operating in the best interest and safety of the patient. Others more attune to reality remain skeptical. What truly motivates insurance companies to take this initiative in warning doctors to be careful?

The bottom line is that the FDA has issued Black Box Warnings on all highly marketable Antidepressants after conducting a long investigation. Even with insurmountable evidence to establish their link to suicide this investigation dragged on. In a twisted and at times almost unbelievable fashion, Congress themselves had to step in to demand that the FDA disclose its data regarding certain drugs. Frustrating, and at times even ludicrous, this investigation revealed not only a clear definitive link to suicide by these drugs, but the FDA’s and drug industries desperate attempts to hide, cover-up, conceal, distort (call it what you may) clinical trial data.

In light of all these facts, it is little wonder that insurance companies are gearing up to minimize loss. Their logic in warning doctors to err on the side of caution when prescribing antidepressants is used in an attempt to save them billions in potential lawsuits.

Take for example, in the past, if a member of your family committed suicide and was taking an antidepressant or withdrawing from an antidepressant, your legal recourse, and protections under insurance is difficult at best and more often than not, nonexistent. Now up the stakes, by throwing the fact that these drugs have black box warnings on them, clearly spelling out their potential for harm. Insurance companies are between a rock and a hard place, under the gun to justify not paying claims to potential victims of the antidepressant suicide fallout.

An industry that has previously been in the driver’s seat, one that ultimately has had the final say in denying suicide victims claims, no longer has an unobstructed path to tread down. It treads today on shaky ground; no longer sure that denying death claims due to suicide, when antidepressants are involved, is in its best interest.

Accountability measures need to be enacted that would ensure that the families of victims of this antidepressant suicide crisis receive immediate protection and justice in the form of financial compensation.

Several flaws in a questionable system stress the importance of accountability here where it has been previously lacking. They are as follows:

  • Proper and full informed consent needs to be provided to the patient in writing prior to any psychiatric “treatment”. This entails revealing to the potential patient the risk of suicide when prescribing an antidepressant.
  • Toxicity testing on suicide victims is not mandated and needs to be required. Victim’s families are not provided with the information on the importance of toxicity screening and are not given the actual procedure on how to request testing at the time of death.
  • Suicides have been and are still routinely blamed on a person’s mental state or a person’s psychiatric diagnosis, rather than on the psychiatric “treatment” that the person had received prior to his death. This occurs routinely without scientific backing or verification of it being a fact. In this way, drug harm, is often overlooked or disregarded.
  • Overall, s uicides are rarely investigated on a national level. This prevents critical information from being gathered and used to factor into determining possible links or causes of suicide. Statistics need to be obtained.
  • Under “Right to Treatment”, insurance companies have been required to cover dangerous and risky psychiatric “treatment” even when the diagnosis itself does not withstand evidence-based criteria. Simply put, a person is diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder based on lists of subjective behaviors rather than on confirming, objective blood tests or brain scans.

The overall picture is one that shows the drug industry, and the psychiatric Industry conveniently not being held accountable. Both groups arm themselves with strong lobbying groups in Washington whose sole purpose is to grease the palms of our political representatives.

In the midst of all this confusion, insurance companies are left with half-hearted attempts at restoring order in a disordered and chaotic system.

For more information on the risks of suicide and antidepressants and the recent “Black Box Warnings” on antidepressants, please visit us at www.ablechild.org.

Ablechild Joins NAACP’s Call for Psychiatrist’s Resignation. Civil Rights Groups will not ignore “Gene Pool” comment.

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Lawmaking.

Patricia Weathers
President
www.ablechild.org
(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

 Recently, in a Texas Committee hearing on Psychotropic Drugs and Foster Care Children, a psychiatrist, Joe Burkett, testified regarding foster care children. In what proved to be one shocking and horrific moment for child advocates everywhere, he informed the committee that one of the main reasons so many foster kids need to be on psychotropic drugs is that “they are very sick, from a Bad Gene pool”.

Last week in Austin, civil rights groups and critics of the state’s welfare agency, of which included the NAACP, demanded the resignation of this psychiatrist.

Ablechild is in full support of the NAACP’s request. We wholeheartedly assert that we will continue to back groups committed to safeguarding children’s rights. We reassert the call for an immediate and swift kick out of office for this psychiatrist, who clearly, by his flippant and de-humanistic statements, is not representing children’s health and safety.

In response to Civil Rights groups call for his resignation, Joe Burkett, in the Dallas Morning News, October 27, 2004, said that he did nothing wrong and has no plans to quit. Questioned regarding his “Gene Pool” statement Burkett responded to the Dallas Morning News stating, “There are pretty strong genetic factors in mental illness. The comment…was really a comment about the fact that these children are in the foster care system because they don’t have normal parents making good decisions….” “That’s really the connection I’m making with genetics.”

Based upon Burkett’s recent statements, Ablechild as well as other civil rights advocates call upon Burkett to produce certifiable evidence of these “genetic factors” in foster care children.

Burkett is well aware, as are we, that there are No objective tests to verify with certainty a genetic component for mental illness. Unless Burkett can miraculously pull out of his hat scientific proof in the form of a blood test, x-ray, biopsy, or exact brain scan verifying such a statement, he should be held accountable for deceiving the public, and attempting to divert public attention away from his original and most damaging statement.

Just one example of the division within the psychiatric and medical community regarding how “scientific” psychiatric diagnoses truly are can be pulled from Clinical Psychiatry News, January 2000. Dr. Theodore Pearlman, a psychiatrist in Houston, speaking about the DSM-IV, the billing bible for psychiatry and what psychiatric diagnoses are based upon, stated that DSM-IV has gone too far. “There are too many diagnoses without any objective basis or biological support,” Dr. Pearlman went on to say.

This is one doctor out of many who have challenged the “genetic factor” and or elusive “chemical imbalance”, clearly recognizing their theoretical foundations demonstrating lack of proof.

Burkett’s comments highlight the failed approach psychiatry as a whole has marketed to the public encompassing both our foster care system and education system. Psychiatrists, like Burkett, should be held accountable for putting forth misleading and biased information to the public to skew perception or understanding of this topic.

“Marketing theories of “bad genes,” “chemical imbalances,” or “diseases” for diagnoses such as ADHD for one, has led to a tremendous increase in the number of children labeled mentally ill and trafficked into drug use without proper and full informed consent”, said Sheila Matthews, Vice President of Ablechild.org a grassroots parent organization dedicated to safeguarding children’s rights and ensuring that all receive full informed consent prior to any psychiatric “treatment”.

Children falsely accused of suffering from subjective mental disorders is a disturbing issue that has been taking place without question for far too many years. It is painfully obvious to so many now that the Psychiatric Industry is allowed to oversee the foster care system without any independent oversight or accountability. It has been a long time without justice for these children. They deserve more.

We need to recognize that it is the time to act and attempt to get both educational and healthy non-drug approaches over the walls to these unprotected children, instead of promoting and allowing the psychiatric gatekeepers and their tentative theories to remain at the helm.

For more information on mental health and its role in foster care abuse and for recent information on the FDA’s issuance of Black Box Warnings on Antidepressants given to children nationwide please visit our site at www.ablechild.org

Children Suicide “Cluster” in Pennsylvania. Is Antidepressant Use to Blame?

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in MedWatch.

Patricia Weathers
President
www.ablechild.org
(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

 As Pocono Mountain East High School reels from its third unexplained child suicide that has occurred within the past six weeks, the mental health industry scrambles to explain away what so many people in this country, and in the U.K., have slowly but clearly begun to understand. Three child suicides all involving children who attended the same school inside of six weeks would appear alarming to the average person, but not to the American Psychiatric Association, which issued this statement concerning the matter. “Reports of suicide “clusters”, in which one suicide appears to trigger several others within a group such as a school or community, have increased.”

To say that suicide clusters have increased without addressing a possible antidepressant link is a “smoke screen” attempt to take our attention away from the stark reality, the shock, and horror that the average person would have to know that 3 children all attending the same school killed themselves all inside a 6 week period. One would think right away, what are the odds?

Psychologist Sara Camaerei, who practices with Family Treatment Associates of Stroudsburg, PA had this to say regarding the recent cluster of child suicides. “Suicide is a taboo in our society. No one likes to talk about it. When one individual commits suicide, it removes the taboo and others could think that maybe it’s an alternative.”

A taboo, simply put, is anything prohibited or forbidden by society, tradition or convention. To blame suicide on the fact that it is a taboo within society and that children are more likely to kill themselves because society as a whole does not like to talk about suicide is a far-reaching theory. To reach further and state that one child suicide would encourage other children to follow suit, simply killing themselves because this “taboo” has been removed, is another questionable theory that offers very little answers and does not get to the crux of the situation.

The reality is that both statements produce a tremendous amount of much needed “smoke and mirrors” on the mental health industries part in their futile attempt to divert our focus away from more logical explanations. The reality is that both statements and point of view do not address the current antidepressant crisis happening in this country and the very real plausible explanation into why children are killing themselves at such a rapid rate.

The facts should speak for themselves and override any meager attempts by a profit driven industry to explain away child suicides. The facts should not be covered up or go unheard when children continue to die. They are:

  • Last years ban of antidepressants for children in the U.K. due to their link to suicide ideations.
  • This years FDA investigation into the antidepressant link to suicide and violence.
  • This years Congressional Investigations into the FDA’s failure to act in the best interest of public safety by attempting to withhold crucial drug research and studies from the public.
  • The drug companies ability to withhold clinical data from the FDA and the public that clearly linked antidepressant use with suicide.
  • The recent issuance of “Black Box Warnings” by the FDA on all antidepressants clearly spelling out their link to suicide.
  • Over 850 parents have come forward on a national level to report being pressured and coerced by nation schools to place their children on behavioral drugs and antidepressants.
  • Parents and advocates taking action within states across the nation to enact state laws outlawing the prevalent practice of coercion by schools which led to the Federal government proposing “The Child Medication Safety Act,” which would safeguard both parental and children’s rights https://www.ablechild.org/flegislation.htm.
  • Lack of a tracking system in place for each State and for the Nation overall, that would comprise useful data regarding the number of children dying as a result of psychiatric drugs.

These facts cannot be discounted. The question remains: Is the American public going to continue to buy into the mental health industries “smokes and mirror” attempts to dispel, distort and overshadow children dying, and the reason why they are dying?

Is this incident at Pocono Mountain East High School in Pennsylvania so easily swept under the rug by the industry promoting unapproved drugs to children? Will the American public allow this to happen?

The American public needs to demand accountability. Three child “cluster” deaths in Pennsylvania should be enough to prompt a full Federal investigation into the matter. The public needs to have access into the number of children dying as a result of psychiatric drugs. No accountability and No oversight is just plain Unacceptable.

For more information on children’s mental health issues, Federal and State laws involving a child’s right to grow up drug free, and education please visit www.ablechild.org.

Psychiatrist Blames Bad Gene Pool for Massive Drugging of Foster Care Children in Texas

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Lawmaking.

Patricia Weathers
President
www.ablechild.org
(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

Does this indicate the Resurgence of Eugenics in America?

On October 4, 2004 in a Texas Committee hearing on Psychotropic Drugs and Foster Care Children, human and children rights advocates were stunned when psychiatrist, Joe Burkett, informed the committee that one of the main reasons so many foster kids need to be on psychotropic drugs is “they are very sick, from a Bad Gene pool”. Another psychiatrist, Dr.Sargent, re-emphasized how very sick these kids are, and how these children’s brains are wired differently, requiring them to receive “expert” psychiatric care.

“This Bad Gene Pool” and “sickness” belief system is very alarming to many child right advocates who look to find effective, healthy, non-drug solutions for children in state care; children who more than likely have experienced trauma and stress within their environment and have had natural reactions to such. John Breeding, founder of Texans for Safe Education and author of “The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses”, and “True Nature and Great Misunderstandings” testified before the committee. Dr. Breeding challenged the Bad Gene Pool theory. “That is just not true. Once we label these children, we stop thinking of strategies to help them succeed and master the coping skills needed in society.” Dr. Breeding called for a seven-step approach to reform, which would include strengthening informed consent laws, thereby increasing the likelihood that accurate information regarding the subjective nature of the diagnoses, being all too eagerly assigned to children placed in state care, is given to childcare providers. This would also ensure that state childcare providers given all the information, would be less likely to discount the overwhelming risks associated with drug “treatment”.

Texas is not the first state that has initiated hearings, investigations, and litigation regarding widespread abuse, which includes the rampant drugging of children within state foster care.

  • Massachusetts just this year launched an investigation into tracking how many of its children in state care are on psychiatric drugs. · Washington, California, Illinois, and Florida are just some of the other states that have tackled the overall systemic abuse as well.
  • Last year, Connecticut was the first state to actually ban the use of two unapproved antidepressants on children in state care.

What is quite clear from this is that children in the foster care system nationwide are clearly unprotected on a human rights level, and with current “bad gene pool/sickness” ideology being spread publicly, there is little hope that the current nationwide crisis within state foster care programs will get any better.

Two psychiatrists spouting comments regarding “bad genes” is alarming to say the least, but what is more disturbing is the unanswered question: Does this indicate that the American Psychiatric Association condones such ideology? If so, is any hope lying ahead for children remanded into state care? Or, are these children designated “human research subjects” for popular and profitable drug “treatments”? Ideology espousing concepts of “bad genes” and inferiority among humans based on characteristics bares a striking resemblance to the science of Eugenics that deals with the improvement of races and breeds, especially the human race, through the control of hereditary factors. We can recall that Hitler employed this same ideology in Nazi Germany. What many do not recall however is that it was also used in our country in the early 20th century within mental asylums when experimentations were conducted on people deemed an inferior sect of human beings.

This mindset contrasts sharply with our country’s founded principals of democracy, which espouses that all men are created equal.

Ablechild’s National Vice President, Ms. Sheila Matthews stated that, “This Bad Gene Pool” comment is very damning to the entire psychiatric industry and should send a wake up call to all America! These children are clearly vulnerable and are fair game for drug research, with no accountability whatsoever. All who care for children should be distraught at this public display of disregard for these children’s health and safety.”

For more information regarding foster care abuse, mental health and children, please visit us at www.ablechild.org