ABC 20/20 Confront The Pill Pushers

Over the past week or so ABC News in America have been covering the plight of the thousands of children caught in the loop of the mental health system. These children have each had a poor start in life and have been placed into Foster care because, more often than not, they have been abused by their parents or, in some instances, have had to deal with the death of their parents.

Last night ABC's 20/20 rounded off their investigation with a 10 minute special entitled Confronting Doctors [As yet not available on YouTube]. It was, in essence, a pastiche of their two previous specials from Wednesday and Thursday but featured a more in-depth look at the case of 7 year-old Gabriel Myers.

Gabriel's father was in prison whilst his mother had become addicted to prescription drugs. One day she had drove to a shopping mall with Gabriel in the car and had fallen asleep. She was thrown into prison whilst Gabriel was placed into Foster care. [I use the word care loosely]

During the weeks that went by Gabriel was moved from home to home and saw a number of therapists. He became disruptive, trashing his room. From that point he was assigned to psychiatrist, Sohail Punjwani who, for reasons only known to himself, deemed Gabriel to be in need of psychotropic medication, this after a five-minute consultation  and a diagnosis based on nothing but personal opinion, an opinion that would ultimately result in 7 year-old Gabriel Myers taking his own life by wrapping a shower hose around his neck and hanging himself.

Gabriel's death was ruled as an accident but anyone who knows just how dangerous these drugs can be, not only for adults taking them but children too, will know that putting a child as young as 7 on a mixture of mind altering drugs was the probable causation into him taking his own life. There is overwhelming evidence that shows how these drugs can induce suicidal thoughts. Psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical industry alike will point to the trauma in young Gabriel's life as being the possible reason why he killed himself, kind of hypocritical when you consider for a moment that a child is thrown into a strange place with adults he has never met and children he has never met all the time missing his mom and wondering when he will see her again. Adding fuel to the fire [psychiatric drugs] was clearly not the answer, it was merely a way of suppressing or dumbing-down young Gabriel.

Sharyn Alfonsi of ABC News tracked down Gabriel's psychiatrist and asked him why he had prescribed these drugs to Gabriel.

Punjwani:  "Sad stories happen but that does not mean the doctor is responsible for it because we are in the business of taking care of these children."


Alfonsi then pressed Punjwani and asked him how much time he actually spent with Gabriel. She put it to him that he only spent 5 minutes in consultation with Gabriel.

Punjwani:  "That is untrue."


Later, and off camera, Punjwani conceded that it was possible that he only spent 5 minutes with Gabriel whilst adjusting his medication.

Alfonsi revealed that Punjwani has an arrest record for being in possession of cocaine and to avoid prosecution he agreed to go through a court mandated rehabilitation program.

Comment


The plight of Gabriel is truly tragic, it appears he was removed from one trauma to another, one burning building to another. His case is just a small part of a bigger picture, a picture that the world of the pharmaceutical industry, psychiatry and medicines regulators don't want the likes of you and I to see. It's a secret society where the 3 bodies that know the truth do everything in their power to suppress the truth. It's a wanton neglect of our little people whereby on the odd occasion we get the 'good' psychiatrists speaking out about this mindless form of abuse.

The prescribing physicians should hang their heads in shame, although I doubt very much if they have any conscience relating to the prescribing of these drugs to children who haven't even had a chance to develop a fully working brain. Doctor's, it could be argued, such as Punjwani are the ones with the mental disorders, it is an act of insanity to hand out brain altering medication to children on an assumption, particularly based on such little time spent with that child during consultation.

Insanity
1. The state of being seriously mentally ill; madness. 
2.Extreme foolishness or irrationality.


I think it safe to suggest that anyone who thinks prescribing mind-altering drugs to a child suffering the trauma of being separated from their parents could fall into category 2 [above]

To make matters worse neither the pharmaceutical industry, psychiatry or medicines regulators take accountability for this huge failure, instead, they buck-pass by blaming one another and/or the child's original "illness". Are we expected to believe that young Gabriel Myers actually had an illness, that the majority of children placed in Foster care have an illness?

For too long we, firstly as human-beings and secondly as parents, have ignored the abuse of the mind that these drugs cause our children, we cannot see this abuse because their are no bruises, no broken bones, no bandages. Imagine, if you will, the brain of a small child. Apart from taking a severe blow to the head I can't think of any other way other than prescribing these medications that would cause brain trauma. To numb one's thinking, to suppress emotions such as grief or loss is, in my books at least, abuse.

It has become acceptable to use these dangerous medications on children, mainly, in part, to the massive promotional campaigns by the pharmaceutical industry and key opinion leaders [leading 'relnowned' psychiatrists] who add their names to ghostwritten publications that deem these drugs effective to use in children. As parents we too have a responsibility. A naughty son or daughter does not necessarily mean we have a little Damien Thorn or Regan McNeil on our hands. They should not be labelled with a mental disorder for showing human emotion. Furthermore, they should not be given cocktails of pharmaceutical drugs because they show signs of grief or loss.

The drugging of children in Foster care in America is appalling, it's by no means just an American problem, it's going on in other countries. We have a society that automatically labels unruly children as misfits, brats, we have an industry that labels them with psychiatric disorders. We have, in essence, the perfect set of lab rats to abuse and to make a whole heap of money whilst doing it.

The ABC trilogy of stories is very much the tip of the iceberg. Children in Foster care are 13 times more likely to be prescribed drugs that can cause a bio chemical imbalance than children not in care. It's a startling figure but those not in care who are prescribed these drugs are also in danger.

There are two kinds of bullies, there are those that abuse then there are those that stand back and watch the abuse without intervening. I'll leave the pharmaceutical industry, psychiatry and the medicines regulators to decide on which type of bully they are.

A lot of effort has come from advocates and organisations during the making of this series. It is because of people and organisations whose hearts are in the right places that ABC were able to broadcast across America, they were able to spread the awareness that has been created over the years by a long list of people who bang the drum constantly regarding the abuse of drugging children. The list is long but a special mention goes out to Sheila Matthews of Ablechild, Ken Kramer of Psych-Search and, of course, where would we all be without the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights.

If you are foolish enough to believe that this is the end of the matter, think again, there's a whole new breed of pill-pushing being promoted down under in Australia. If you think it's utterly ridiculous to give a child mind altering drugs because he is deemed to have a mental disorder then what would you think of someone who could predict if your child was going to get a mental disorder in future years and to nip it in the bud put your child on a heap of psychiatric drugs just like Gabriel Myers? Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you the time-travelling DeLorean driving psychiatrist, Patrick McGorry.

Part III can be found on the ABC 20/20 website HERE

Related articles:


12 Year-Old Kid Speaks before Senate and Congress about Psychiatric Drugs

U.S. Government Fails to Oversee Treatment of Foster Children With Mind-Altering Drugs ABC News Part I

Billion Dollar Drug Company Law Firm Restructures Connecticut Welfare System

In Memory of Gabriel Myers

Twitter - #FosterChange




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ABC News Foster Care Investigation

Following on from Part I, ABC News aired the second part of their investigation into the mass drugging of children in Foster care homes across America. Part II centered around the death of 6 year-old Gabriel Myers who, after being placed in a Foster care home, was prescribed a powerful mix of antipsychotic drugs after a 5 minute consultation with his psychiatrist, Dr. Sohail Punjwani.

ABC News catches up with Punjwani to ask him why.

Also featured in the ABC News investigation is FDA spokesperson, Robert Nelson. Nelson is asked, in essence, who is going to accept responsibility for the mass drugging of children. His response and demeanor during the short interview leaves a lot to be desired.



Later today ABC News will air the third part of their investigation.

The 'off-label' prescribing of powerful mind altering drugs to children is a huge problem of epic proportions not only in America but other countries too. Limp-wristed medicine regulators shirk any responsibility claiming that the warnings about prescribing these medications to children are clearly stated on the labelling and in warning letters to doctors. They then sit back and allow the very same doctors they have warned to prescribe the medication to children 'off-label'.

It's mindless and the only industry that I can think of where an unapproved product is...well, approved.

My disdain for medicine regulators is well known, only last week I covered the MHRA's proposed SSRI Learning Module for Clinical Practitioners in the UK and showed how utterly contradictory it is. [Parts 1, 2 and 3.]

What we have here is a failure by adults to hold up their hands and accept responsibility. It's buck-passing of the highest order and is basically putting children on a never ending Highway to Hell.

Senators and congressmen take note: The root of this problem is The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM]. Once you see how utterly ridiculous the "illnesses" are, you will be able to understand why tax payers are being ripped off at the expense of the welfare and safety of children. You want to eradicate the problem, then go to the root cause and ask the authors of the DSM for scientific proof. It's a manual that is basically a licence to print money for the pharmaceutical industry.

Related links:

12 Year-Old Kid Speaks before Senate and Congress about Psychiatric Drugs

U.S. Government Fails to Oversee Treatment of Foster Children With Mind-Altering Drugs ABC News Part I

Billion Dollar Drug Company Law Firm Restructures Connecticut Welfare System

In Memory of Gabriel Myers






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12 Year-Old Kid Speaks before Senate and Congress about Psychiatric Drugs

Sen Tom Carper: "We need to figure out what works." 

There's always a defining moment in history, I believe I just witnessed it, I never expected that defining moment to come from the voice of a 12 year old boy from the state of Texas.

Ke' Onte Cook gave evidence before the Senate and Congress today regarding his experience in Foster care. The Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security had gathered in the wake of a report by The US Government Accountability Office [GAO] that showed that the prescribing of drugs to children in state care is out of control.

Startling facts were revealed in the online stream:

• Children in Foster care were prescribed mind altering drugs up to 4.7 more times than children not in care.

• Thousands of children had received more than the recommended dose of mind altering drugs

• Over 600 children in state care were on 5 or more mind altering drugs at any given time

• 5,265 infants [under the age of 1] were prescribed mind altering drugs.

The bullet points above may shock you, what's even more shocking is that this data comes from just 5 States pooled in the GAO investigation. Can you begin to imagine the figure if all the US States were pooled?

Sen Brown [Massachusetts] told the congress that nearly 40% of Foster children in Massachusetts had been prescribed 1 or more psychiatric drug. On learning that over 5,000 infants across five States had been prescribed these drugs he said it was "shocking and disturbing".

Sen Carper, who chaired the meeting, added, "We can't stand idly by while children's lives are put in danger."


Sen Collins [Maine] added her disgust with, "I am troubled by the use of psychiatric drugs for use in children in Foster care." She also told congress that the GAO report had found that in Texas children in care were 53 more times likely to be prescribed 5 psychiatric drugs at once more than children not in care and added that there was thousands of infants on psychotropic drugs.

The Senate sat in stunned silence as they listened to a statement from 12 year-old Ke' Onte Cook. Ke' Onte had been place in care from the age of 6 and a half. He told the panel that he was told that if he didn't take his drugs he would be punished by not being allowed to watch TV. He did not know why he was on drugs or how many he was taking, he could not remember. Ke' Onte also informed the panel that later on he had been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] Insomnia, Depression and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD] during which he could not process thoughts, felt glazed and tired, had stomach aches and a "lights out" mood. He added that he was first prescribed the medications [3 different drugs a day] because he was throwing tantrums and was upset after being taken into State care.

Sen Carper asked Ke' Onte how he managed to get off the medication. Ke' Onte informed him that he sought the help of an Attachment Therapist who talked to him about his history and added that "It helped me to get over the anger." When asked by Sen Carper if he had a message he would like to add Ke' Onte replied, "Medication isn't going to help children with problems, it just sedates them."


Sen Carper concluded that "We need to figure out what works." and told Ke' Onte, "Some good is going to come out of what you experienced."


Ke' Onte received a round of applause from the Senate and Congress... I would have given him a 21 gun salute.

GAO's full report can be read HERE

Here's Sen Carper's Opening Statement.


Back in March 2011 myself and Ablechild's Sheila Matthews exposed a billion dollar drug company law firm and their involvement in the Connecticut Foster care system. Full article HERE

Rise In Antipsychotic Drugs Taken By Children

Last week Channel 4 News aired a special report regarding the prescribing of antipsychotics to children.

For those that didn't get a chance to see it, now's your chance.

 

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Samantha Parnell - Caught in the Mental Health Trap

Samantha Parnell -  8 different psychiatric drugs

When Samantha Parnell was just 15 she, like many teenage children, experimented with recreational drugs, her choice being skunk, a selection of selectively bred cannabis strains.

Her parents, Sharon and Steve, became aware when she started behaving out of character, in fact her mother thought that her daughter had a brain tumour such was the drastic change she had seen in her. Alarmed by this Sharon took her daughter to a local hospital whereupon Samantha finally admitted that she was smoking cannabis.

Confused and showing signs of agitation a doctor injected Samantha and told her that it would help calm her, the hospital then prescribed her Risperdal, an antipsychotic used to treat schizophrenia. The hospital told her parents that Risperdal was a standard drug they used to treat teenagers who had taken street drugs. Samantha's parents were also informed that the "medicine" was well tolerated.

As weeks turned into months Samantha found it difficult to tolerate the Risperdal, in fact, recalls her mother, "the Risperdal made things worse." When Samantha told the health care professionals about her intolerance they simply upped the dose. She was told by medical staff that they needed to keep adjusting the dose until "they got it right" as everyone needed "different amounts."

In 2007, seeing no marked improvement, Samantha was prescribed Zyprexa. Concerned, her mother told the prescribing doctor that she was not happy that her daughter was being prescribed drugs and asked if there were any alternatives.The doctor told her there were no alternatives and that this was the standard treatment.

Things went downhill for Samantha and her behaviour became worse, so bad was her behaviour that she was sent into an acute young persons unit where she was given more psychiatric drugs.Her parents noticed that Samantha became lethargic and showed little or no emotion and also learned that she was self-harming, she also lost track of time and didn't know what day it was, recalls her mother.

In a phone conversation with Sharon, she told me:

It was just a downward spiral, by this time she was a shadow of her former self. She asked Steve and me several times please help me too die. Can you imagine that, she even said I’ll write you a letter so you and daddy don’t get into trouble.

Samantha was becoming more violent and her mother noticed that it became worse just a couple of weeks prior too her menstrual cycle. Sharon relayed this to Samantha's doctor as she felt it may be of importance. Her doctor, apparently, never investigated this finding.

During 2007 Samantha was in and out of hospital units and was also sectioned under the mental health act where she was prescribed Clozaril, an atypical antipsychotic, her parents had to sign a consent form and were told that their daughter's blood would be checked regularly as it could interfere with her white blood cells.

Sharon:

I didn’t like the sound of it at all but it was said this was the last she could try as this is the drug they use for treatment resistant people. 

At this point Samantha was taking three drugs, Zyprexa, Abilify and Lamictal, a fourth, Clozaril, was added to the mix and each time medical staff tried to 'up' the dose Samantha's heart reacted which ultimately saw Samantha admitted to a cardiac unit where she was told the Clozaril had to be stopped with immediate effect. Her mom recalls:

Whilst introducing Clozaril they reduced her from Zyprexa. Each time they tried to raise Clozaril her heart reacted so the cardiac doctor said it must be stopped immediately. They then proceeded to put her back on Zyprexa and also adding Abilify and lamotrogine.

Samantha's Clozaril was substituted with Diazepam, a benzodiazepine used for the short-term relief of symptoms related to 'anxiety disorders'.

Sharon:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, if we knew then, what we know now, I would have said no. Sam’s life at this moment in time is a mess; I never want to hear of another child being abused by so called doctors again with these so called medicines. Sam has been so violent and she has hurt people and damaged lots of things too but their drugs have done that to her.

On 20th May 2011 Sharon took Samantha to a private hospital too see a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist. She explained all of her daughter's mood swings and violent outbursts. After discussion, he prescribed Oestrogen patches for Samantha to wear two weeks on and two weeks off and said, "if you get a 10% difference after the two cycles then I will put her on the lowest dose to start just too see and then maybe go up to the next dose if it works for her."

The patches seemed to calm Samantha down somewhat, although she was still experiencing rage. The patches,recalls her mother, "stopped her more violent outbursts, she stopped attacking people and smashing up the place."

Unfortunately, Samantha, had previously attacked a bus driver who had refused her on a bus, Samantha had tried to board the bus with a train travel card and lashed out when she was refused to board.

Yesterday, Samantha, now 19, was sent to a medium secure unit. Her mother wrote a letter to the court explaining what she believes to be the reasons why her daughter acts the way she does. It bore no weight with the magistrate.

The final words goes to Sharon:

I know from the research that I have done on these so called medicines that two of the drugs Sam was on, clearly says can interfere with women’s hormones and they never told us that in the beginning. The same as they only chose too tell of what they call minor side effects. Anyone who has been on these drugs and anyone who has looked after anyone on these drugs know they are actual side effects.

Sharon Parnell has been creating awareness about the use of psychiatric drugs in children and wishes for parents across the UK to research any psychiatric drug prescribed to their children. Her website, Revelations UK has been running since 2010.

To date Samantha Parnell has been prescribed the following psychiatric drugs;

Diazepam
Phenergan
Olanzapine
Lamotrigine
Risperidone
Clonazepam
Aripiprazole
Clozaril

She is currently spending time at a secure unit, a young woman trapped in the mental health system, hooked on psychiatric medication that has escalated her problems and eradicated nothing.

Her mother sought the help of professionals, that help resulted in misery starting in 2006 and, it appears, continuing throughout 2011. Samantha Parnell has been punished enough, it's time for those responsible to remove their heads from the sand, it's time to stop the chemical cosh whipping of this young woman.

She is one of many thousands of children, teenagers, adults and elderly caught in the mental health trap.

Bob Fiddaman.




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It's Official: Antipsychotic Drugs Labelling Update

Health Canada has released a warning to Healthcare professionals and consumers regardng Antipsychotic drugs and the risk of abnormal muscle movements and withdrawal symptoms in newborns exposed during pregnancy.

Now they tell us!

Antipsychotic drugs: Labelling update regarding the risk of abnormal muscle movements and withdrawal symptoms in newborns exposed during pregnancy.

Health Canada is informing healthcare professionals and consumers that the prescribing information for the entire class of antipsychotic drugs is being updated. The updated labelling will contain safety information on the potential risk of abnormal muscle movements and withdrawal symptoms in newborns whose mothers were treated with these drugs during the third trimester of their pregnancy.


So, if a child in its mother's womb can suffer withdrawal by proxy, just imagine what suffering the children throughout classrooms of the UK, Canada, America, Australia etc will have to endure.

Here's a list of some antipsychotic drugs that are causing severe withdrawal problems with children today. Will the regulators be doing anything to help the millions of children worldwide that are hooked on these?


aripiprazole - Abilify

clozapine - Clozaril

olanzapine - Zyprexa

quetiapine - Seroquel

risperidone - Risperdal

ziprasidone - Geodon

Do you wish to continue labelling children with psychiatric disorders just so drugs [such as the above] can be ingested by children?

Wake up world. It's fraud, pure and simple.



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Good Morning Australia - Here's a Glimpse of Your Future

With the Australian government plowing billions of Aussie dollars into the mental health system and with a large chunk of that money going toward Patrick McGorry's early intervention program, I thought I'd show the Australian population just how their hard earned money is being spent.

Although the following 18 minute video is based in and around the US, it pretty much sums up how dangerous antipsychotic and atypical antipsychotics are when used on children.

Patrick McGorry not only believes in these drugs, he claims he can predict if your child will need them at some stage in their life.

The Australian government have backed McGorry so, in essence, they too are quite comfortable with the use of these drugs in children.

It would be nice to see some vocal action from Australian citizens on this issue, if only to ask McGorry for scientific proof that his early intervention program [DeLorean] is based on scientific data or it's merely guesswork.

This video is a look into the future for Australian parents, come jump on board my DeLorean and let me show you a glimpse of Australia in 3 or 4 years time.

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

Thanks to Stephany for alerting me to this video.


Related Stories:

Patrick McGorry: "Hey... Paddy... Leave Those Kids Alone"

Patrick McGorry - Torn Asunder Down Under

Early Intervention, McGorry, Politics & TV Shows

Psychiatrist Patrick McGorry Slams His Critics [Diddums]

Is Australia's "Number One Man" Misleading The Public?

Pre-Mental Disorder Screening & Drugging - THE PHARMACEUTICAL DELOREAN

Patrick McGorry's Delorean Pulls Over For New Passenger

Patrick McGorry & Co Under Fire

Hickierie Dickory Doc - McGorry Turns Back the Clock

The Drugging of Children - Australian Style


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