Sunday, October 25, 2009

Foster kids, psychotropic prescriptions- finally alarm

Foster Kids have been continually drugged by the social services system in Florida. There have been many articles highlighting this desperate saga where neglected kids get drugged and some have committed suicide while under the guidance of Florida Government Services. The Florida governments only solution is drugs, drugs, drugs…

This is a recent article by Fred Grimm of the MiamiHerald
Foster kids, prescriptions -- finally alarm


Gabriel Myers finally matters.

Too late for him -- the foster kid we addled with anti-depressants and anti-psychotics without quite knowing the effects drug cocktails might have on a 7-year-old.
One potential side effect of feeding Lexapro, Zyprexa and Symbyax to a 67-pound child became grotesquely obvious. Young Gabriel coiled a shower hose around his neck and hanged himself in the bathroom of his Miramar foster home.
Gabriel's death on April 15 roiled child advocates, critics of the pharmaceutical industry, the media. But this week, a child's suicide finally elicited a reaction where it matters.
``I tell you, we're going to do something. We're going to do a full-court press,'' said State Sen. Tony Hill, a Jacksonville Democrat, still shocked after members of the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee were briefed Wednesday by the Gabriel Myers Task Force.
UNACCEPTABLE
Committee Chair Rhonda Storms, a Valrico Republican, told reporters, ``I cannot accept or believe that a little child cannot be reached except by drugging him and drugging him and drugging him.''
The task force catalogued drug regimens for foster children that the FDA never approved for children. It described a system blighted by haphazard oversight. No one within the child-care bureaucracy took direct responsibility for the child's complex psychological needs. No one was looking out for a profoundly troubled child's best interest.
Hill railed that Gabriel's foster parents, schools, case workers and doctors hardly spoke to one another as his problems escalated. ``No communication,'' he said, his voice rising in anger.
No one acted as a parent. A vigilant, caring parent would have questioned a pharmaceutical solution to the little boy's behavior. Child advocate Andrea Moore read the task force report and worried that the doctors had responded more to bureaucratic needs of the system than the therapeutic needs of children. About 22 percent of the foster children aged 6 to 12, and a third of foster kids 13 to 17, are on psychiatric drugs. Such numbers, utterly out of whack with the general population, defy any explanation other than foster kids were to be transformed into compliant little zombies.
``We're going to find out,'' Hill promised, describing a bipartisan fury. ``We're going to find out why doctors are writing these prescriptions, and we're going to find out about the relationship between the doctors and drug companies.''
`MAJOR CHANGE'
Advocates like Moore have long complained that state foster care facilities administered psychotropics in lieu of providing real therapy. Five years ago, the Legislature passed supposed safeguards to rein in the pill madness. Obviously, they didn't work.
Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies have been encouraging doctors to prescribe unapproved, off-label uses for their expensive, profitable drugs.
DCF has promised to revisit psychotropics regulations. Hill promised tough legislation. ``Major, major change is coming. The whole committee is behind this.'' He said drug companies ``can lobby all they want. They can't stop this.''
It took the death of a child to arouse the legislators. ``I admit, I didn't know this was going on before Gabriel,'' Hill said, using the boy's name to describe a tragic event. ``That should never have happened to a child.''
But now, hopefully, it matters.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Is Your Child Genius an ADHD Ritalin Candidate Also?

Einstein, Newton, Edison, Beethoven, Caruso, and Churchill were all ADHD candidates. What would the world be like without them? Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and he didn’t read until he was seven. The instructors described him as mentally slow, unsociable and a dreamer. He was later expelled from school.
Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything. Isaac Newton did very poorly in grade school while singer Enrico Caruso’s was informed he had no voice and couldn’t sing. Winston Churchill failed sixth grade, and Beethoven was awkward with the violin and preferred to compose instead of play. His instructor called him hopeless as a composer. If these world changing men were boys today they would be evaluated as ADHD candidates and subscribed Ritalin a schedule 2 drug similar to cocaine. Our pharmaceutically drug induced children have no chance to become the likes of these great men.

There is no single test for ADHD. In fact there is no scientific test at all for ADHD. It is entirely made up, by taking the most annoying habits of children and calling it a disease. It creates a market for pharmaceutical companies, and invoices for psychiatry. Please see adhdfraud.org and the book ADHD Fraud by Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD. Here are the symptoms of ADHD according to the drug pushers. ADHD is diagnosed after a child has shown six or more specific symptoms of inactivity and or hyperactivity on a regular basis for more than six months in more than two settings. The symptoms that can get your child diagnosed as ADHD are constant motion, fidgeting, not listening, difficulty paying attention, excessive talking, easily distracted, and not completing tasks. Virtually all children demonstrate behavior like these while growing up. Most Ritalin and ADHD diagnosis is prescribed to children 6 to 12 years.

The side effects of Ritalin according to the DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders,(Psychiatry’s owners manual) include stunting of growth, depression, insomnia, nervousness, skin rash, anorexia, nausea, dizziness, headaches, abdominal pain, blood pressure and pulse changes, and Tourette’s Syndrome which is a permanent and irreversible condition characterized by body tics, spasms, screaming obscenities, and barking sounds. The drug is under the same federal category as cocaine, opium and morphine, since it is such an addictive and dangerous drug. Withdrawal symptoms can be severe and include depression, fatigue, paranoia, increased dreaming, irritability, bedwetting and suicide. How could a mother provide a drug with these side effects to their child? How can the FDA approve of such a drug for children for a disease that is completely made up?

Where would we be without the Einstein’s, Newton’s, and Beethoven’s of the world and where is the world going today by subscribing so many as ADHD candidates? It is estimated that 90 percent of children diagnosed with ADHD will be prescribed Ritalin as part of their treatment. Prescriptions increased 450 percent from 1991 to 1995, climbing from a nationwide consumption of 4,000 pounds to 18,000 pounds annually, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). This is a DEA statistic not an FDA statistic. That should tell you something alone. Why because it is a schedule 2 drug like cocaine and opium. Ritalin is made by the pharmaceutical company Novartis and it is the brand name for the drug methylphenidate. It's taken as tablets and takes effect after about four hours and a second dose and third dose maybe necessary every four hours throughout the day. As we have noted it is an addictive drug. Other similarly prescribed ADHD drugs are Dexedrine (dextro-amphetamine), Adderall (mixed dextro- and levo-amphetamine) and, Gradumet, and Desoxyn (which are methamphetamine which is basically speed or commonly called ‘ice”').

Since ADHD is simply fraud and the drug given to your child is simply “speed or ice” then the alternative is easy, don’t agree to the diagnosis. You’re the parent your in charge of your child’s health and welfare. The home remedy alternative is to reduce the sugar intake for your children and put them on a better protein and vegetable diet. You can assist them by getting them a tutor for school when they are having difficulty, or adding extra school time so they get the subject matter better. Children also need to be more active in sports or athletics which teaches concentration and team work. It also burns calories, and they can win at games which improves their well being. These simple steps alone can correct your child’s behavior. Drugs are not the answer and they will never be the answer.

Stop Foundation Inc. www.stoprx.org Stop Foundation Inc. was formed to make the public aware of the effects of psychotropic drugs. We have a wealth of information including books and many alternative remedies you can pursue. Please visit the website and donate today.