Tag: Informed Consent

No More Ritalin: Treating ADHD Without Drugs

Written by AbleChild on June 9, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

With several million children still being prescribed ADHD drugs such as Ritalin every year, Dr. Mary Ann Block makes the case for why Ritalin (generic name methylphenidate) could be a huge risk to your child’s health. Block takes an avant-garde approach in No More Ritalin: Treating ADHD Without Drugs, not only questioning the very existence of the ADHD diagnosis, but she outlines safe and more effective drug-free alternative means of treatment. Block is of the school of thought that you can’t treat the problem until you identify the underlying causes of ADHD, such as hypoglycemia, allergies, environmental factors and hyperthyroidism. Often, symptoms stemming from issues such as these are misdiagnosed as ADHD. The book also lists commonly prescribed medications, explains what they are and the potential side effects they can have on children.

Block discusses in the book her belief that children diagnoses with ADHD are usually right-brain dominant in their information processing and learning styles, as well as being more creative than those with left-brain dominant styles. She explains the need for right-brain dominated children to be offered better accommodations with their learning styles in the school system. Block presents her arguments with thorough research and actual case histories from her clinic.

About the Author

Dr. Mary Ann Block is a top-selling author on family health, and director of the Block Center. Her medical approach is to look for and treat, whenever possible, the underlying causes of the problem, instead of using drugs to cover the symptoms. Her other books include No More ADHD, Just Because You’re Depressed, Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, Depression is a Symptom Not a Disease, So Find the Cause — Fix the Problem, Today I Will Not Die, and The ABC’s of Raising Great Kids.

Dr. Block chairs The Health and Empowerment Committee for the National Foundation of Women Legislators. She is a State of Texas Family Practice Preceptor and served on the faculty as assistant professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Block is a regular contributor on TBN and FamilyNet’s Your Health with Dr. Richard Becker, as well as being quoted in magazines, newspapers, radio and TV shows across the country.

No More ADHD, 10 Steps to Help Improve Your Child’s Attention and Behavior WITHOUT Drugs

Written by AbleChild on June 1, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

From the same top-selling author of Just Because You’re Depressed, Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, Depression is a Symptom Not a Disease, So Find the Cause — Fix the Problem is a book that thoroughly investigates the truth about the ADHD diagnosis, and helps parents identify their child’s true health and learning problems and find non-pharmaceutical ways to improve these issues. Block reveals what’s behind the origin of the medical profession’s label of ADHD, question’s the disorder’s medical legitimacy, and shows how children’s attention and behavior symptoms can be the result of real and explainable health and learning problems.

Dr. Block is an outspoken critic of children being diagnosed with ADHD and the dangers of the psychiatric drugs being prescribed to treat children. She advises parents to make sure their children are thoroughly examined by a medical professional to find underlying medical problems that could be misdiagnosed as a mental disorder.

Dr. Block is a mother who knows from personal experience how the medical system can fail a child. Her daughter became seriously ill following an incorrect diagnosis from doctors and inappropriate use of pharmaceutical drugs. This compelled her to attend medical school at the age of 39 to save her daughter. Dr. Block’s perspective as both a parent and a physician should set many parents at ease and give them confidence in her advice in this book.

About the Author

Dr. Mary Ann Block is a licensed osteopathic physician and top-selling author on family health, and director of the Block Center. Her other books include No More Ritalin, No More Amoxicillin, Today I Will Not Die, and The ABC’s of Raising Great Kids.

Just Because You’re Depressed, Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, Depression is a Symptom Not a Disease, So Find the Cause — Fix the Problem

Written by AbleChild on May 25, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

In this book, Dr. Mary Ann Block uses a clear and easy to understand writing style to expose the truth about the diagnosis of depression, and the dangers of the current medications prescribed for it. If you or someone you love is among the 300 million people diagnosed with or suffering from the symptoms of depression, the information from this book could literally save your life. In the book, Block examines the often flawed area of psychiatry with a fine-tooth comb, to help people understand the real issues underlying their symptoms. Having the right information then allows you to make an educated decision.

Block’s book outlines the six most common causes of depression that she has seen among her patients. They are as follows:

Thyroid Problems
Hormone Deficiencies
Magnesium and Other Nutritional Deficiencies
Allergies
Prescription Drug Side-Effects
A Personal Loss or Other Normal Life Cycle Experience

Other important points covered in Block’s book include:

Postpartum depression, and how it is a hormonal imbalance, not something that requires treatment with anti-depressants.
How poor nutrition can impact your mood and lead to symptoms of depression.

Block also reviews the many side effects of anti-depressants, which include depression, heart failure, heart attack, atrial fibrillation, cerebral embolism, stroke, shock, thrombosis, ventricular arrythmia, venticular fibrillation, hemorrhage, coma, delusions, abnormal EEG, hypertension, angina pectoris, agitation, sleep disorder, apathy, ataxia, hallucinations, hostility, paranoid reactions, personality disorder, psychosis, vertigo, antisocial behavior and stupor.

About the Author

Dr. Mary Ann Block is a top-selling author on family health, and director of the Block Center. Her medical approach is to look for and treat, whenever possible, the underlying causes of the problem, instead of using drugs to cover the symptoms. Her other books include No More ADHD, No More Ritalin, Today I Will Not Die, and The ABC’s of Raising Great Kids.

Reviews

David Brown Stein, M.D., author of Overcoming Thyroid Disorders and Drugs That Don’t Work, and Natural Therapies That Do

“This book is a must read for those who have been diagnosed with depression. This book gives the reader all the information they need to make the best choices about how to find the real cause of their symptoms. I highly recommend this book by Dr. Mary Ann Block.”

AbleChild’s Statement on Informed Consent as it Relates to Covid and Consumer Safety

Written by AbleChild on February 16, 2021. Posted in Articles, MedWatch.

AbleChild has worked diligently throughout the years on informing the public on the importance of Informed Consent and an individual’s right to be given all necessary information (full disclosures on diagnosis, benefits, risks, alternatives) regarding psychiatric drugs and children. Informed Consent is no less important as it overlaps many different issues and comes back to overall public safety.

Is the 14-Year-Old Shooting Suspect in West Oak Middle School, SC Another Failed Outcome of Mental Health Treatment?

Written by Able Child on September 29, 2016. Posted in Violence.

The 14-year old suspect in the Townville Elementary School shooting was expelled from West-Oak Middle School after bringing a hatchet to school last year, according to news reports.

West Oak Middle School expulsion policy requires the school to refer the student to the department of juvenile justice based on the fact he brought a weapon to school. The DJJ process clearly indicates the suspect would have undergone a mental health evaluation and had plenty of access to mental health treatment prior to the shooting.

What’s not clear, did the suspect receive mental health services and psychiatric drug treatment prior to the Hatchet incident at school? It is often difficult to gain access to early mental health treatment records. However, the public did gain access to the Sandy Hook mass shooter’s early mental health treatment records through the Child Advocate’s report, but didn’t gain access to the last five years leading up to the mass murder at Sandy Hook. The State is still withholding those records.

Lanza’s primary treating psychiatrist, Paul Fox, who surrendered his license to practice is now facing felon charges for sexual abuse of a former patient. Fox told police during the Sandy Hook police investigation he still retains the billing records, but destroyed the actual mental health records of Lanza. Fox failed to follow record retention law and public notification law that he was no longer practicing. Connecticut didn’t enforce either one of those laws.

The Child Advocate’s report on Lanza actually showed he had plenty of access to mental health and participated in the birth to three mental health programs. In addition, Lanza was home bound through Newtown public school system and under the care of discredited psychiatrist Fox at that time. Dr. Robert King of Yale Child Study Center also treated Adam Lanza. Dr. King is heavily involved in landmark mental health research that involves FDA approval.

The public would benefit from mental health billing information, the Yale file, and the diary of the mother, Nancy Lanza, found at the crime scene.

Dr. Robert King and Nancy Koenig of Yale claimed that Nancy Lanza refused treatment for her son; however, the police report indicates that Nancy Lanza reported an adverse drug event to Yale’s Koenig and Dr. King. There was no indication that Dr. King or Koenig advised Nancy Lanza to report the adverse drug event to the FDA, instead Dr. King and Koenig of Yale labeled Nancy Lanza as noncompliant.

Time again the school shootings are linked to mental health “treatment” and deadly outcomes. This is an excellent time to question the condition of the mental health system, and ask two fundamental questions. Is the policies pushed in the aftermath of Sandy Hook of aggressive outpatient services, and “shy of forced medication” actually increasing our mental health crisis and the deadly outcomes? The second question, Are public health departments, like Connecticut, protecting behavioral health vendors, bad psychiatrists, and covering up dangerous, experimental mental health treatment on children in crisis?

AbleChild contacted the SC Anderson County Sheriff’s office to encourage them to explore the psychiatric drug link, question the treating psychiatrist, and investigate any behavioral health vendor involvement. AbleChild also asked if the suspect’s blood was taken at time of arrest. The Sheriff’s office thanked AbleChild for our suggestions and didn’t have the information on the blood work up at this time.

When No One Acts in the 21 Century, Losing Informed Consent

Written by Able Child on July 9, 2015. Posted in Lawmaking.

Do not underestimate your power.

Shocking lobbyist’s bill moves quickly without public input. Informed Consent on the chopping block and a fast track to human experimentation. AbleChild strongly opposes this proposed bill.

AbleChild encourages you to contact Chairman Fred Upton (R) and Diana DeGette (D) and your representative to voice opposition to H.R. 6.

Do not underestimate your power! Call and Opposes H.R. 6! Simply put it, I support informed consent and human rights and reject lobbyist’s dream bill H.R 6.

The 21st Century Cures Act
June 10, 2015

Interactive Guide to the #Cures2015 Legislation

WASHINGTON, DC – The House Energy and Commerce Committee recently voted 51-0 approving H.R. 6, the 21st Century Cures Act. This nonpartisan legislation is a product of more than a year of working with patients, advocates, researchers, innovators, and health care professionals to bring our nation’s laws up to speed with advances in medicine and technology. Over a year ago, Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) began the 21st Century Cures conversation to discuss the many incredible scientific advancements and breakthrough studies happening each day and how those can be used to find cures and therapies for the thousands of conditions and diseases without them.

The 21st Century Cures Act accelerates the discovery, development, and delivery of life saving and life improving therapies and transforms the quest for faster cures by:

Removing barriers to increased research collaboration.
Incorporating the patient perspective into the drug development and regulatory review process.

Measuring success and identifying diseases earlier through personalized medicine.
Modernizing clinical trials.

Removing regulatory uncertainty for the development of new medical apps.

Providing new incentives for the development of drugs for rare diseases.

Helping the entire biomedical ecosystem coordinate more efficiently to find faster cures.

Investing in 21st Century science and next generation investigators.

HR 6 helps keep and create jobs here at home.
– See more at: http://energycommerce.house.gov/press-release/21st-century-cures-act#sthash.C2XUUSwt.dpuf

Sandy Hook Promise at Odds with Constitution and Other Parents

Written by Able Child on October 29, 2014. Posted in Sandy Hook.

Sandy Hook Promise founder, Rob Cox, recently asked the question, “Did the law, and our Constitution, make this massacre easier to carry out?” His organization advocates for massive mental health screening for all children, according to the Burlington Free Press article, “Sandy Hook lessons yet to be learned, two years later“.

This is the same “mental health screening” that clearly failed Adam Lanza at Danbury Hospital, where he was screened by the Department of Psychiatry for harm to himself and others and released prior to the mass murder in Sandy Hook, Newtown, Connecticut.

According to the Burlington Free Press Interview, “In asking these wrenching questions, Cox was essentially framing the mission of the organization he would help to forge during the coming weeks in Newtown, Sandy Hook Promise.”

This has prompted AbleChild cofounder, Patricia Weathers, to ask some pointed questions to the founder, Mr. Cox, who has garnered the attention and support of the mainstream media, politicians, and financial supporters.

“This stunning “anti-constitutional” mission of the Sandy Hook Promise should have us all alarmed,” says Patricia Weathers.

The question, Mr. Cox, why are you not asking for the medical and mental health records like AbleChild, or finding it a little “strange” to say the least that there are just too many discrepancies in the reporting?

Why does Sandy Hook Promise blame the Constitution and yet does not want access to all the data involved in the “treatment” that failed this young adult?

Cox seems to buy into the State’s “Lanza Narrative” that he didn’t get mental health treatment or needed drugs instead of looking to facts within the police investigative report. Is this why Cox hasn’t asked for the records to be opened or held the State of Connecticut and the Sandy Hook Commission accountable to the public?

My son was placed on psychiatric drugs with dangerous side effects and had a violent adverse event. Being a mother who testified before the FDA and Congress with the hundreds of parents that have had children who have died as a result of antidepressants linked to violence and suicide, I know that parents who want answers DON’T STOP until all information is revealed and all questions are answered. These parents, despite their loss, fought through the bureaucratic rhetoric to get to the truth and based on this truth changed appropriate laws and worked to get a Black Box Warning on the drugs and TV Ads so that other children would not share the same fate. They were not pawns for one political group pushing an agenda. They saw through this and the pharmaceutical conflict of interest within the government.

Perhaps this is why the Sandy Hook Promise doesn’t have all the Sandy Hook victims’ families that lost a child on that horrifying day supporting their efforts. A fact Cox admits in the article.

An organization like Sandy Hook Promise, that blame the Constitution and uses innocent victims to spread misinformation without having all the facts is reprehensible. This organization, by pushing forced mental health treatment and gun control without public hearings is endangering our children and violating parental rights. This flies against the very foundation of this Country.

Informed Consent Needs to Grow in Brooklyn

Written by Able Child on October 14, 2014. Posted in Lawmaking.

Recently, it has come to AbleChild’s attention from a New York grandmother, who filed a report with AbleChild in September that a public school district in Brooklyn, NY does not feel that U.S. Law -Title 20 1232h, Protection of Pupil Rights (Hatch) Amendment applies to them. AbleChild has long endorsed this law and its complimentary supported amendment letter (Hatch) because both directly support informed consent rights regarding psychological testing in public schools throughout this nation.

Title 20 U.S. Code 1232h- Protection of Pupil Rights gives the power to the parent to refuse any survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals information concerning mental or psychological problems of the student or the student’s family, or their beliefs. This Right to Refuse applies to all subjective psychological evaluations, surveys and questionnaires that are used to diagnose our children with a mental health disorder.

“Both Title 20 and Hatch give parents not only the right to make critical decisions regarding their children within education, but provides for safeguards to ensure that a parent can raise their children in the way they believe is appropriate, label and drug free”, said Patricia Weathers, AbleChild Cofounder and mother of two boys. Weathers went further by stating that, “Schools should not be allowed to make decisions regarding mental health services, psychiatric diagnoses or psychiatric drug “treatment” for children. Schools should stick to education. Parents always have the right to refuse any and all of these and should not be told they are “non compliant”. Parents have the right to choose as part of informed consent.”

“This grandmother reached out to AbleChild because her request to her grandson’s school for an educational evaluation to determine if he was in need of special services was denied. She was told that she was “non-compliant” when she refused the psychological portion of the evaluation on her grandson. She tenaciously advocated for her grandson’s educational needs by printing out both Title 20 and The Hatch Amendment and submitting them to her grandson’s school. As per her account of the matter, “The school seemed unaware of the law and uninterested in learning about my right to refuse the psychological portion of the evaluation. I had to insist that both the law and the amendment letter that I filled out were submitted into my grandson’s file because the school psychologist didn’t think that I had the right to put anything into his school file.”

AbleChild questions whether the school district is actually ignorant of the law or is banking on an uneducated parent/caregiver who doesn’t question authority or know his or her rights. Either way, this incident demonstrates that much more awareness needs to be given at both the educational and parental level on informed consent regarding mental health and education.

For more information on AbleChild, to report your own experiences with these issues, support a parent’s right to choose and refuse, or join this organization, please visit www.ablechild.org.

Acknowledgement of Governor Rowland on Informed Consent

Written by Able Child on September 22, 2014. Posted in Lawmaking.

Ablechild acknowledges the recent conviction of former Gov. John G. Rowland, but equally must acknowledge his courageous actions in 2001 when he championed and signed legislation (Public Act 01-124), An Act concerning recommendations for and refusal of the use of psychotropic drugs by children and utilization review determinations related to mental and nervous conditions, effective on October 1, 2001, the Governor signed the bill on June 28, 2001.

The Connecticut public act was the first of its kind throughout the country and spurred a 2003 federal bill, The Child Medication Safety Act 2003, to protect children and their parents from being coerced into administering a controlled substance in order to attend school, and for other purposes.

Governor Rowland also was responsible for the 2003 administrative action that prohibited the prescribing of the antidepressant, Paxil, for a six-month review period, for use with foster care children. This followed the October, 2003, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issuance of a suicide warning on Paxil and other antidepressants causing suicidal ideation in children. Since then the FDA has placed “black box” warnings (the most serious drug warning) on all antidepressants due to the increased risk of suicidality in children.

Most importantly, Governor Rowland instructed Theodore S. Sergi, the Commissioner of Education to issue a letter to Ablechild on May 21, 2001 that states, “the State Department of education does not endorse any checklist nor recommend treatment of services for ADHD.”

Prior to Governor Rowland’s signature on this landmark legislation, workshops were held in New Haven, Connecticut, sponsored by Yale Child Study Center among other Yale divisions and Pfizer, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth-Lederle, entitled, “Workshop on Strategies for Drug Development and Trials in Children” May 19-21, 1997.

The Conference Workshop Summary, simply put:, “by overlooking pediatric markets and disease, the pharmaceutical industry is disregarding an important long-term source of revenue, missing opportunities for therapeutic cures and for creating long-term product loyalty. Most important however is that the therapeutic dividend of the Human Genome Project, which has fueled much of the pharmaceutical biotechnology boon since 1993, will not be realized in pediatric patients.”

“The sessions will be devoted to the new FDA regulations concerning drug testing in children. In addition, the workshop will address two issues traditionally seen as the major roadblocks to developing drugs for children identification of pediatric markets and therapeutic trials.”

Despite former Governor Rowland’s recent conviction, Ablechild cannot help but acknowledge his courage and commitment at a time when the well-being of so many of the state’s children hung in the balance and still does. We thank Governor Rowland for protecting informed consent when it comes to what the sponsors of the workshop term “roadblocks”- in more basic terms – “labeling and drugging” our children.

We wish him well through his journey in the Connecticut justice system; Ablechild has been there in defense of parents and children trapped within the powerful psychiatric and drug industry’s well-financed grip in all three branches of our government.

Yes, Senator Murphy, it is “Disgraceful”

Written by Sheila Matthews on July 21, 2014. Posted in Lawmaking, Sandy Hook.

Ablechild finds it interesting and disturbing that Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn) felt compelled to chastise the handling of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash site, as reported by The Hill “Twitter Room” “all you need to know about the character of Ukrainian rebels is the disgraceful way they are handling crash site, bodies.”

Clearly there is much to be desired about what has, so far, transpired regarding the response to that horrific crash, but one also must wonder why Senator Murphy has not displayed the same concern about the handling of the investigation much closer to home – the mass killing at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

First, as many are aware, Ablechild believed that Adam Lanza’s toxicology, medical and mental health records were key to understanding the motive for the attack and sued the state for those records. Claiming that Ablechild was not a stake holder in the case, the request was denied. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on increased mental health services in Connecticut, there is no information publicly available that supports Adam Lanza’s lack of mental health services.

Given that Sen. Murphy believes that the investigation in the Ukraine is “disgraceful” because of the handling of the investigation, one might also find the state’s stonewalling on Lanza’s mental health records is equally “disgraceful.”

Additionally, since the release of the State Police investigation in December of 2013, information has been made public that raises interesting questions about the shooting incident. For example, how is it possible that the State Police report would list two different Garmin Nuvi models (200 or 550) being found either in Lanza’s Honda Civic parked in front of the school or found in Lanza’s bedroom closet? This is important information for which no clarification has been provided.

Furthermore, what about the envelope taken from the Lanza home which was addressed “for the young students of Sandy Hook Elementary School?” Given that the DNA found on the envelope and affixed stamp is neither Adam or Nancy Lanza’s, but does match that of a convicted felon in New York, wouldn’t Senator Murphy be interested in this oddity?

More importantly, is it wrong to wonder why Sen. Murphy, or any other Connecticut legislator, aren’t interested in what was found in the envelope of a convicted felon that was addressed to “the young students of Sandy Hook Elementary School or how, for that matter, the DNA of a convicted felon in New York even ended up on this envelope?

More odd, why isn’t Sen. Murphy interested in the fact that this particular piece of physical evidence made it into the State Police report but was not mentioned by State’s Attorney, Stephen Sedensky? And, as a side note, is it possible that Sen. Murphy doesn’t find it even remotely odd that not one of the bullets reportedly fired from the Bushmaster Rifle match the barrel of that weapon?

Of course, Ablechild appreciates Sen. Murphy’s concern for the tragic situation in the Ukraine, but we can’t help but wonder why there are no “tweets” from the Senator about a flawed investigation in his own backyard.