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"Those who say it cannot be done should not interfere with those of us who are doing it"© - S. Hickman
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Livid Leigh
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The DEA/government/states spend millions of our tax dollars on advising parents on teaching students NOT to use drugs, all the while insisting that students be drugged daily in school and at home. Teachers who are unable to meet the demands of "teaching" declare any child in class to be hyper or in need of drugs if that child asks questions or appears to be able to learn faster than the rest of the class. The result is dumbed-down robots who learn nothing but do learn what it is like to take drugs. Below this article by the AP is the result of more Congressional intrusion into our private lives and the lives of our children. NOWHERE in the Constitution is the Congress given the right to pass legislation requiring mental exams of all children/parents now or in the future. Any parent who allows this to take place is contributing to "child abuse". Parents need to disallow any such action: write your Congressman and remind him of his duty to protect under the Constitution! "FDA orders warnings on antidepressants"
WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration on Friday ordered that all antidepressants carry "black box" warnings that they "increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior" in children who take them. Patients and their parents will be given medication guides that include the warning with each new prescription or refill. Dr. Lester Crawford, acting FDA commissioner, said the agency based its decision on the "latest and best science." "We continue to believe, however, that these drugs provide significant benefits for pediatric patients when used appropriately," he told reporters. "Antidepressants increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior . . . in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder and other psychiatric disorders," the warning begins. Those risks must be balanced against clinical need, the label indicates in a warning surrounded by a black box, hence the "black box" designation. The information guide, available within weeks for patients and their parents, echoes those warnings. The FDA's action, which follows to the letter a recommendation of its advisers, was driven by data that showed that on average, 2 to 3 percent of children taking antidepressants have increased suicidal thoughts and actions. Independent experts, working with Columbia University, based the finding on a review of data from 24 trials that involved more than 4,400 patients taking antidepressants. They found a greater risk during the first few months of treatment. Crawford said suicides among youths decreased by 25 percent in the last decade, as antidepressant prescriptions to children soared. Children ages 1 to 17 now account for 7 percent of all antidepressant prescriptions. The American Psychiatric Association expressed concern that the agency's actions may lead to fewer antidepressant prescriptions for patients most in need. "This would put seriously ill patients at grave risk," the association said in a statement. Eli Lilly and Co., which manufactures Prozac, the only antidepressant found to be safe and effective for children, echoed the APA's concerns. "Lilly supports the recent FDA efforts," the company said. However, a "black box warning on antidepressants may have a dangerous effect on appropriate prescribing for patients who urgently need proven treatment options." The FDA said that concern was raised during advisory committee meetings and in its internal discussions. Still, the black box is the best way to ensure patients and doctors discuss the risks and benefits of the drugs. "We felt that it's one of the most important tools we have to get the message out to people that these drugs shouldn't be used casually," said Dr. Sandra Kweder, acting director of the FDA's Office of New Drugs. Other drug manufacturers endorsed the FDA's action. "We agree with the FDA that providing additional information to everyone -- from health care professionals to parents and patients -- is one of the most positive steps that can be taken to advance the diagnoses and treatment of adolescents with depression," said Mary Anne Rhyne, a GlaxoSmithKline spokeswoman. Glaxo, the maker of Paxil, settled a lawsuit filed by New York's attorney general by releasing summaries of all its clinical trials. The lawsuit accused the company of not disclosing fully negative information about Paxil's safety record. The FDA said parents and physicians will be advised to look for warning signs in children that include worsening depression, agitation, irritability and unusual changes in behavior. Those worrisome signs could come within the first months of starting an antidepressant or if the drug's dosage is changed, higher or lower. Doctors and families are asked to have at least weekly, face-to-face contact with a child taking an antidepressant during the first four weeks of treatment. Biweekly visits would occur for eight more weeks and, as needed, after week 12. The warning notice says caregivers and physicians should be equally as vigilant with adults who take antidepressants. Because the FDA chose its most strident alert, the warning must be included in advertising. That means a trend that startled federal advisers -- free samples of antidepressants given to treat other medical conditions -- also must carry warnings. http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=041016_Ne_A7_FDAor63247 FDA: www.fda.gov The Psycho State
One obvious beneficiary of the proposal is the pharmaceutical industry, which is eager to sell the psychotropic drugs that undoubtedly will be prescribed to millions of American schoolchildren under the new screening program. Of course a tiny minority of children suffer from legitimate mental illnesses, but the widespread use of Ritalin and other drugs on youngsters who simply exhibit typical rambunctious, fidgety, and impatient behavior is nothing short of criminal. It may be easier to teach and parent drugged kids, but convenience is no justification for endangering them. Children’s brains are still developing, and the truth is we have no idea what the long-term side effects of psychiatric drugs may be. Medical science has not even exhaustively identified every possible brain chemical, even as we alter those chemicals with drugs. Dr. Karen Effrem, a physician who strongly opposes mandatory mental health screening, warns us that “America’s children should not be medicated by expensive, ineffective, and dangerous medications based on vague and dubious diagnoses.” She points out that psychiatric diagnoses are inherently subjective, as authors of the diagnostic manuals admit. She also is concerned that mental health screening could be used to label children whose attitudes, religious beliefs, and political views conflict with the secular orthodoxy that dominates our schools. The greater issue, however, is not whether youth mental health screening is appropriate. The real issue is whether the state owns your kids . When the government orders “universal” mental health screening in schools, it really means “mandatory.” Parents, children, and their private doctors should decide whether a child has mental health problems, not government bureaucrats. That this even needs to be stated is a sign of just how obedient our society has become toward government. What kind of free people would turn their children’s most intimate health matters over to government strangers? How in the world have we allowed government to become so powerful and arrogant that it assumes it can force children to accept psychiatric treatment whether parents object or not? Parents must do everything possible to retain responsibility and control over their children’s well-being. There is no end to the bureaucratic appetite to rule every aspect of our lives, including how we raise our children. Forced mental health screening is just the latest of many state usurpations of parental authority: compulsory education laws, politically-correct school curricula, mandatory vaccines, and interference with discipline through phony “social services” agencies all represent assaults on families. The political right has now joined the political left in seeking the de facto nationalization of children, and only informed resistance by parents can stop it. The federal government is slowly but surely destroying real families, but it is hardly a benevolent surrogate parent. September 14, 2004 Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas.
The NFCMH recommends "routine and comprehensive" testing and mental health screening for every child in America, including preschoolers. President Bush has instructed 25 federal agencies to develop a plan to implement the Commission's recommendations. The NFCMH proposes utilizing electronic medical records for mental health interrogation of both children and adults for mental illnesses in school and during routine physical exams. The NFCMH also recommends integrating electronic health records and personal health information systems. The NFCMH recommends "linkage" of these mental examinations with "state-of-the-art treatments" using "specific medications for specific conditions." That means prescribing more expensive patented antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs. Illinois became the first state to jump on board. By near-unanimous votes in 2003, the Legislature passed the $10 million Illinois Children's Mental Health Act creating a Children's Mental Health Partnership (ICMHP), which is expected to become a model for other states. (ATG: They must not have read the Act at all which is now typical of legislators looking for Federal dollars - our tax money) The ICMHP's plan, released on July 16, calls for periodic social and emotional developmental examinations to be administered to all children, and for all women to be interrogated for depression during pregnancy and up to a year postpartum. When the ICMHP showcased this plan with five public hearings stacked with bureaucrats and social service workers, a political tempest erupted, with state legislators saying they had no idea this was what they had voted for. Illinois legislators were shocked to hear the details. The plan includes periodic developmental exams for children ages 0-18 years, a statewide data-reporting system to track information on each person, social-emotional development screens with all mandated school exams (K, 4th, and 9th), and report cards on children's social-emotional development. The plan is to add mental health assessment to the state's physical examination certificate, along with mandatory immunization records. All children in Illinois, unless religiously exempt, are required to have up-to-date health examinations and immunizations for school entry. The ICMHP requires the Illinois State Board of Education to develop and implement a plan that incorporates social and emotional standards as part of the mandated Illinois Learning Standards, which are due on the Governor's desk by December 31, 2004. This inevitably opens up screening for politically incorrect attitudes and nonconformity with liberal attitudes of tolerance. Mental health diagnoses are inherently subjective and social constructions, as even the diagnostic manuals admit. Many thousands if not millions of children would receive stigmatizing diagnoses that would follow them for the rest of their lives. [ATG: Ten-fifteen years later when attempting to get jobs or even a driving license - this will be on their records available to anyone who asks.] "State-of-the-art treatments" will result in many thousands of children being medicated by expensive, ineffective, and dangerous drugs. The long-term safety and effectiveness of psychiatric medications on children have never been proven. The side effects of suggested medications in children are severe. They include suicide, violence, psychosis, cardiac toxicity, and growth suppression. Several school shooters, such as Eric Harris (Columbine) and Kip Kinkel (Oregon) had been on antidepressants or stimulants when they committed their crimes. The validity of much scientific research has lost its credibility because the Food and Drug Administration has allowed the pharmaceutical industry to withhold data not favorable to their products and because persons in the pay of the pharmaceuticals are the ones recommending the medications. The current controversy about links between suicide and antidepressant drugs that have not been adequately tested has contributed to the uproar. The FDA posted an analysis in August that some antidepressants pose a risk of suicide in children. Parental rights are unclear or nonexistent under these mental screening programs. What are the rights of youth and parents to refuse or opt out of mental screening? Will they face coercion and threats of removal from school, or child neglect charges, if they refuse privacy-invading interrogations or unproved medications? How will a child remove a stigmatizing label from his records? A Columbia University pilot project of screening students called TeenScreen resulted in one-third being flagged as "positive" for mental health problems, and half of those being turned over for mental health treatment. If this is preview of what would happen when 52 million public school students are screened, it would mean hanging a libelous label on 17 million American children and putting 8 million children into the hands of the psychiatric/pharmaceutical industry. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ON CAPITOL HILL
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com An attempt by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, to add language to the omnibus spending bill in Congress to require parental consent for any mental-health screening done to children with federal money has failed. The language was proposed to blunt the effect of a program proposed by the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, which President Bush established in 2002. The New Freedom Initiative recommends screening not only for children but eventually for every American. As WorldNetDaily reported, in September Paul attempted to have the program removed from Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations Act. His amendment failed the House of Representatives by a vote of 95-315. The language he hoped to have added to the omnibus bill, which passed on Saturday, was: "None of the funds made available for State Incentive Grants for Transformation should be used for any programs of mandatory or universal mental-health screening that performs mental-health screening on anyone under 18 years of age without the express, written permission of the parents or legal guardians of each individual involved." Though Paul had support from House leadership for the language, senators who were part of the conference committee overseeing the final bill did not want it added. "We believe the drug companies and the psychiatric establishment convinced Sens. Arlen Specter and Bill Frist to block it," said Kent Snyder, executive director of the Paul-founded Liberty Committee. "We are extremely disappointed that the conference committee ultimately rejected Dr. Paul's language and that it was not added to the omnibus spending bill." Critics of the mental-health screening plan say it is a thinly veiled attempt by drug companies to provide a wider market for high-priced antidepressants and antipsychotic medication, and puts government in areas of Americans' lives where it does not belong. Snyder says Paul won't give up on thwarting the screening and will take up the issue again in January when the new Congress convenes.
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