Psychiatric Drugs In The Media

There's been quite a flurry of activity recently with regard to the mainstream media reporting on psychiatric drugs, particularly in the use of children. We had the UK first with a Channel 4 News Special.

 

Next we had the USA and ABC's flagship current affairs programme, 20/20, reporting on Foster care homes and the use of mind-altering drugs in children, some under the age of 1.

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

Then TV3's 60 Minutes from New Zealand reporting on the dangers of SSRi medication not only in children...but adults too. [No video but review can be read HERE]

I'd like to say the times are changin'...but there's a bloody long way to go.

Next week Ablechild's co-founders, Patricia Weathers and Sheila Matthews, appear on CNN with their take on the mass drugging of children.

There's a huge spanner been thrown into the works. The people are fighting back...in the name of those your drugs have harmed and killed.

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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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ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE


AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

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






Fid


ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE


AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

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

Sitting Back in Anger

There are those that do then there are those that...well, that just sit there shrugging their shoulders not giving a toss.

There is a global problem with children being prescribed mind-altering drugs, in fact the increase in drug prescriptions stranglely does not run concurrent with the increase in apparent mental disorders. The drugs, the system, is being manipulated.

Put a bunch of children on courses of powerful antipsychotics, chances are their reactions to them will mimic the traits of a depressive or someone who shows a lack of interest. Solution? Feed them more drugs.

The term "chemical cosh" has been used by many people to describe these drugs, they whip the child into submission - Go and sit in the corner and be quiet, I'm not putting up with your tantrums today.

It's all well and good writing blogs about this problem or posting videos to Twitter and Facebook, chances are that only a small number of people on friend lists will retweet or share on the social networking websites. People these days seem more moved by a dog being mistreated or a cat being thrown into a bin by a passer-by. There's public outrage [and rightly so] at seals being clubbed to death or secretly filmed videos of animals being mistreated by the travelling circus. I've seen campaigns on Facebook that range from the ridiculous to the sublime and seen grown adults post links to the various games on Facebook, "You have been invited to play Mafia Wars." Hey, each to their own, whatever gets you through the day, I'm not knocking the fact that you wish to escape from reality, we all need that escapism at some point in our lives.

There are far too many shoulder shruggers, The why should it bother me, my kids are fine type. Sometimes we, as adults, have to step out of our own bubbles to see the true state of humanity. Yeh, it sucks, it's depressing and why should we take on other people's problems when we have so much crap in our own lives?

Nice take on life folks.

There are those that do then there are those that sit back and watch those that do. "You are doing great work", "Thanks for highlighting this", "Thanks for posting, I'll read after I have planted the seeds in my garden on Farmville."


I'm of the opinion that the people that highlight these stories about the ever-increasing drugging of children do not want the thanks, they'd much prefer people to do something about it. Recognition is nice but what is it worth if your message gets lost amidst the back-slapping and high fives? By all means thank those that highlight these stories but please remember what you are thanking them for then ask yourself what you can do about the reason why you thanked them.

There is a trend for those that do, they never stop at one story, they continue to highlight the plight of children being drugged because they know they have to. Repetition is the key.

Next, we have the haters. Those people that just don't like to see good triumph over evil, the anonymous knuckleheads who are so hellbent on discrediting that they fail to realise that they are no better than the white-coated buffoons that hand out these drugs, the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture them and the independent bodies that, apparently, regulate them.

Yesterday saw me join a bunch of folk for a demonstration in my hometown of Birmingham. It was to protest against the use of ECT, otherwise known as Electroconvulsive therapy. Two incidents that struck me were thus:

Scene: Standing outside Maple House where there was a symposium for psychiatrists who were gathered to discuss the benefits of ECT.

A psychiatrist, who bore a striking resemblance to comedian Billy Connolly, came outside for a cigarette break, he couldn't help but look in the direction of the protesters as we were only about 5 yards away from him. He, like so many before him, had the usual smirk on his face, the patronising kind that suggests that he knows best. He looks toward our direction and says, "So, I hear you are Scientologists", then exhaled cigarette smoke in one of those laughing fashions. "Well, I'm not", I replied. His bottom lip quivered, he shuffled, shrugged his shoulders and eventually said, "Good for you." Hey great Mr Psychiatry man, if you are going to make a broad statement toward a crowd then, at the very least, have some form of defence if you are wrong. Then again, they do like to label people eh?

Scene: Standing around the corner from Maple House holding a banner.

A member of the public stops and asks me what ECT stands for. I explain and he shakes his head before coming back with, "I thought they stopped doing that in the age of the witch.". He then walked away, hopefully better educated for that brief minute we spoke.

Two incidents, two very contrasting points of view.

One has to throw a stone to get the pool to ripple, I do my bit and many other bloggers out there do the same. The Citizen's Commission on Human Rights [CCHR] have been doing it for many years, their stones being boulders. They don't stop at isolated cases, they add more coal to the fire because the train track is never ending, boy, do I know that feeling.

This post isn't about singing the praises of CCHR, they pretty much know how I feel about their organisation. This post is one that wishes to tap into the conscience of those that feel that there IS a problem but there isn't much they can do about it. They are wrong, they need to start making the pool ripple because psychiatry, the pharmaceutical industry, medicine regulators and those haters will continue to induce harm to children around the world.








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