Prescribing Death

People who suffer from allergies, medical disorders, and disease usually know best what medications and/or food they can and cannot tolerate.  For example, I suffer from a type of inflammatory arthritis called gout. There are many foods and drinks that my body cannot tolerate. I realize, as do medical specialists, that foods high in purines, such as shellfish, will likely increase the risk that I will suffer a painful gout attack. Therefore, I avoid or reduce my consumption of specific foods and beverages in order to stay healthy.

I'm of sound mind, but if I wasn't, I'd have to rely on my loved ones to ensure foods high in purines are eliminated from my diet. Good health and medical care is often a family affair for all of us, whether we suffer from gout or medication allergies. Most doctors would agree that concerned family members play a vital role in patient care, particularly when the patient is a minor or might need assistance in decision making.

Thomas "Oliver" McGowan (18)

The Poisoning of Oliver McGowan

Eighteen-year-old Thomas Oliver McGowan, known as Oliver, died on November 11, 2016. He lived with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and autism, which began after contracting meningitis twice during childhood. On Saturday, October 22, Oliver was suffering from simple partial seizures and taken by ambulance to Southmead Hospital in Bristol, UK.

Upon arrival, Oliver was intubated, a process of inserting an endotracheal tube through the mouth and into the airway. This was apparently done to place Oliver on a ventilator to assist with his breathing. Oliver was sedated with Lorazepam, a drug indicated to treat seizure disorders. He was then taken for a CT scan which did not show any changes to his brain.

As doctors at Southmead Hospital eased the Lorazepam, Oliver's seizures returned. Instead of reinstating the Lorazepam, the doctors made a decision that ultimately killed Oliver. They prescribed him the antipsychotic, Olanzapine, a drug indicated to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It is better known in the US by its brand name Zyprexa. Oliver developed Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS), an adverse effect of the drug, his temperature rose to 43C and his brain swelled to the point that it was coming out of the base of his skull.

Dr. Monica Mohan

Dr. Monica Mohan's Arrogant Destruction

The consultant neuropsychologist who made the decision to administer Olanzapine is Dr. Monica Mohan. It appears she made a calculation of risks and benefits but ignored more than 500 citations assessing the impact of antipsychotic drugs on challenging behavior. Of these 500 citations, only 3 were methodologically sound randomized controlled trials, and even these were unable to show whether antipsychotic drugs were beneficial in controlling challenging behavior. (1)

Neuropsychology and publications aside, doctors and staff at Southmead Hospital were repeatedly told by both Oliver and his parents, Paula and Tom,  not to give him antipsychotic medications because he was allergic to them.

Oliver's avoidable prescription-drug death and last week's inquest has been covered by the British media. The week-long inquiry showed how doctors, after learning of Oliver's adverse drug reaction to the drug that was administered, performed a CT scan on his brain which showed Oliver’s brain had swelled to the point doctors said there was no “meaningful recovery”.

During the inquiry, consultant neuropsychologist, Dr. Mohan, told the inquest she would do it again because she believed it was in “his (Oliver's ) best interest”.

I kept an eye on the proceedings and, like the majority of the public, I was gobsmacked at last Friday's verdict delivered by Assistant Coroner Dr. Peter Harrowing.

Harrowing, a former Director of Pharmacy Services to the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, concluded Olanzapine had been properly prescribed and that NMS could not be predicted as it was a “very rare adverse effect”. Further, Harrowing said he agreed with Dr. Mohan. He said the doctors were right to prescribe the drug that precipitated Oliver’s death. Dr. Harrowing also ruled against a Prevention of Future Death.

I reached out to the McGowan family who told me, "The coroner argued that it wasn’t an allergy but a sensitivity or intolerance. Of note, Oliver had previously suffered oculogyric crisis (a dystonic reaction to certain drugs) in Bristol Children’s Hospital with his seizures increasing from one per fortnight to 30 a day.  Sean Collins, safeguarding lead at Southmead Hospital, had consulted with ICU staff about using a non-pharmaceutical approach for when sedation was refused but was not consulted by Mohan."

Smoke-and-mirrors

I'm never shocked anymore by Inquest verdicts. I've long been a fan of the website AntiDepAware, moreover its author Brian. AntiDepAware includes links to reports of inquests held in England and Wales since 2003. It's a great window into the world of coroners and how they don't really work for nor represent the dead. Coroners are often just doctors protecting doctors and the majority repeatedly fail to protect the living by being honest about what happened to the dead. Oliver's case is, tragically, no exception to the medical industry's business-as-usual model. Loved ones who question the medical industry in order to help protect others from suffering avoidable harms are often shocked to see the medical industry's chief concern is to protect their colleagues and business systems.

It's difficult enough to lose a beautiful child who had his whole life ahead of him. But to then endure more smoke-and-mirrors deception from a pharmacist-cum-assistant coroner is beyond the pale. Further, Oliver's parents had to pay for the ordeal following Oliver's death whereas Southmead Hospital was supported throughout the inquest by public funding. (Yes, folks, this is where your hard-earned tax money goes.)

When I think about the avoidable death of the talented and handsome young man named Oliver McGowan, I can't help but also think about thousands of other "Olivers" and "Olivias" out there whose prescribed deaths aren't covered by the news. While they remain faceless to the public, they are not faceless to family and friends.

Nothing will bring Oliver back to life. The inquest that could have reduced future avoidable deaths by improving crisis communication and medical safety instead seem to have increased the likelihood that doctors will practice medicine however they choose, parents be damned.

Arrogance among doctors is a deadly flaw. A 2002 journal article by Allan S. Berger (2) states, "...the most critical variable in the development of arrogance is a physician's knowledge and thereby his or her power over the patient. This can delude some physicians into imagining that they are all-powerful." He continues, "...we should not exaggerate our own importance. We are but an instrument of healing and not its source."

I couldn't agree more.

Bob Fiddaman

(1) Are antipsychotic drugs the right treatment for challenging behaviour in learning disability?: The place of a randomised trial

(2) Arrogance among physicians ~ Berger AS

Elizabeth Kenny, Caught in the System

Every now and again, in life, you stumble across something that is beautiful, sad and, at the same time, profound. Sometimes, you read or hear something that makes you shout out in total agreement, particularly if that something is the very same something that you have been saying for many years.

Elizabeth Kenny - Thank you

Elizabeth Kenny is an actor, writer and activist. She is also someone that could, just possibly, save many from a life time of psychiatric drugs. Her one-woman show, 'Sick', is a true story of misdiagnosis and medication.

At 32, Elizabeth went to see her doctor because she had developed ovarian cysts. 18 months later she was spending time with level 5 patients from the psych ward where she had been admitted to.

'Sick', written by Elizabeth, in collaboration with John Kazanjian, ran for three months and sold out night after night at the  New City Theater in Seattle. There's a trailer for 'Sick' after the first video I wish to show you.

In this first video, Elizabeth talks to an audience about her experience at the hands of a psychiatrist and her subsequent journey and introduction to psychiatric drugs, namely Paxil, Celexa, Zyprexa and Lexapro.

Her delivery will captivate you and many regular readers of this blog will be, like I was, shouting in total agreement at what Elizabeth has to say.

Elizabeth Kenny, I salute you.

And here's the trailer for her one-woman show, 'Sick.'

Elizabeth's website can be found here.

Bob Fiddaman.

Guest Post: 17 Year Old Caught in the Psych Drug Trap

In the past I have urged readers to send me in their stories about their time on Seroxat [Paxil in US]

A reader recently sent me a story that is all too familiar to me and, I'm sure, many other parents out there. It is the story of a 17 year old girl who has had a drastic personality change due to psychiatric drugs given to her by professionals who think they know what they are doing. In truth, they don't. Julie's story is evidence of that.

**Both the names of the grandmother and granddaughter have been changed.

17 Year Old Caught in the Psych Drug Trap

Paula is my 17 year old granddaughter and I have custody of her. She had attitude and behavioral problems due to substance abuse. She also had an eating disorder due to self-esteem issues.

When I found out that on the street she had inhaled a chemical computer keyboard cleaner, they call "duster", and that it could cause death, I instituted drastic measures and placed her in a Wilderness Camp. She had home visits and I am sure she was using on these visits even though she was drug tested on return.

There are two problems here. 1. From reading her Facebook correspondence, I ascertained the kids have some pill, (which, by the way they say it makes them feel is probably worse than the marijuana they are trying to hide,) that enables them to pass a drug test even if they've used. 2. "Huffing” doesn't show up on the drug tests they give.

Paula got kicked out of Wilderness Camp because she kept "running". Not to run away, but just to get away for a time, and then for a joke. She never went alone, and on more than one occasion she had several cohorts, both male and female. This disrupted the camp dreadfully; the director described a night in which he and several staff members spent hours chasing kids, so they kicked  Paula  out.

I placed  Paula  at this center where they have a restricted unit. (It wasn't long until she was in it.) After  Paula  was there a few days, I received a call from a nurse. She very lightly and casually said, " Paula  is anxious and a little depressed." the doctor recommends that she be given Zyprexa for anxiety, Paxil for depression and some Trazodone to help her sleep”. (I had heard of Paxil being related to suicide, but  Paula  was not suicidal, so that didn’t register at the time, (I am now aware that it could have made her suicidal,) nor did it register that the nurse failed to mention the connection.) “I do have to tell you that Zyprexa can cause diabetes, but we monitor very closely here for that so you don't have to worry. These meds will just lift her spirits a little bit and help take the edge off so she'll be more receptive to treatment”. I said "OK, give her whatever she needs".

I now realize how incredibly stupid this was of me. The nurse said nothing about them being addictive or anything about the myriad, horrendous, life threatening, debilitating, and life-long side effects. And I did not ask. I had lived my life making a distinction between street drugs and those prescribed for a patient “in a doctor's care”. I had even told  Paula there was a difference. I also had blind faith in doctors. I had never questioned a prescription recommended for myself, my two daughters, when they were young, or any of my five grandchildren. I had never had a problem from any medications prescribed for us. Most importantly, I never dreamed a doctor would prescribe something deadly.

A day or so after that, a nurse called me and said, “ Paula  messed up her hand pretty bad”. I asked what happened and she said  Paula  repeatedly punched a wall with her fist. I was shocked;  Paula  had never done anything like that. The nurse assured me they would take x-rays. When I asked  Paula  why, she said, “I don’t know, I just got SO MAD”. At some point in the midst of all this, a nurse called me and told me that  Paula  was complaining about not being able to concentrate and that the doctor had ordered some Concerta for her. I gave my consent. (I did not know that Concerta was Ritalin, which I know to be Cocaine.)

After a couple of calls about  Paula having to be “restrained”,  Paula  kept telling me she didn’t know why she was doing these things, finally, she said “I don’t know, I just “flipped out”. This is a term my family has used in regard to  Paula's mother, (who is 37 years old and has been addicted to prescription Ritalin for years,) when she has “psychotic breaks”. I then realized that the drugs were making  Paula violent.

I called the nurses’ station and said that the medications were making  Paula violent and I wanted them to take  Paula off of them. The nurse said I would have to talk to the doctor. She said she would leave a message for her to call me. I had nurses leave messages for the doctor to call me a couple of more times. Then I left a voicemail for  Paula's counselor to have the doctor call me and the reason why. The nurses all assured me they had left messages and when I spoke to the counselor, she said she had received my voicemail and she had indeed left a message for the doctor to call me, stating the reason why I wanted to speak with her. It seems like it had been a couple of weeks since I wanted her taken off those medications, when a nurse called me and said Paula had severely scratched a girl’s face. I told her I wanted Paula off those drugs immediately, Dr. or no, the drugs were making Paula violent. She assured me that Paula would not be given any more.

I belatedly looked these drugs up on the internet to see the hazards of stopping them abruptly. This is when I saw the long list of side effects. I considered  Paula's being “impulsively aggressive” as life threatening. The side effects of stopping abruptly were the same as using the “tapering regimen”, with added effects that could be excruciating, but were not deadly. A lot of the side effects of staying on the drugs WERE, deadly, debilitating, and lifelong. The next morning I missed a call from the doctor and received this voicemail that I still have on my phone:

Transcript of the doctor's voice mail message on 12/23/2011 @ 11:04am (03:41)

from ___-___-2904 Hi, this is Dr. ________ calling from __________ for Julie -------, Miss -------, I’m the psychiatrist at __________ for Paula and I’d like to talk with you about her medication, I understand that you were concerned, are concerned, about her psychiatric medication and stopped her psychiatric medication last night, and I met with Paula this morning, and she had a very difficult evening and morning, very abruptly stopping both Paxil and Zyprexa is dangerous, she became very labile and got into a fight and not to say there wasn’t some antagonism on the other girls part, however Paula scratched the child’s face quite severely she’s somewhat better this morning however very agitated, very …. very labile, she does feel much better on her medication on the Zyprexa and the Paxil, and she, well I saw her yesterday afternoon, she was calm, she was much better and she really does need to be on the Paxil and the Zyprexa, not on the Concerta, we took her off the Concerta because that was causing her to be irritable and she and I both realized that she did not need that medication, she asked me to put her back on it because she thought she needed it for concentration but she actually had side effects when I put her back on it so we took it away and she felt much better so she really does need to be on the Zyprexa, 10mgs at bedtime the Paxil, 40mgs at bedtime for depression, and the Trazodone for sleep so I really do want you to be aware and consent for her to take those medications or she’s really going to have significant problems and not be able to progress here in the program. She did cause some significant scratches on this other young woman’s face and I’m very concerned about that, I know Paula wants to progress in the program and transition out of the girls more restrictive ________ House and I’m concerned that she may not be able to do that if she remains so “labile” and “impulsively aggressive”. So if you wouldn't mind calling the nurse’s station, I’m gonna be leaving not too long from now the nurses’ station, you might know the number.. ___-___-____ and I’ll be happy to talk with to you on Tuesday when I’m back in the office.

This message infers that the reason Paula scratched the girls face was because I stopped her meds. When in fact, I stopped her meds because, she scratched the girls face.

After hearing this voicemail, I wrote a “To Whom It May Concern”, letter stating that these drugs were making Paula violent and she was not to be given any medications. I also pointed out that  Paula  has an addictive personality and I did not want  Paula  to become a "Rageaholic", a person that, as I understand it, can become addicted to the chemical changes in the brain with rage, and is full of rage at all times with frequent outbursts. I reiterated what I had told the nurses and the counselor before, that  Paula  had never been violent, that  Paula  and I had “butted heads” a few times since she started using drugs and that I had been “in her face”, I have seen  Paula  angry and there was never even a “hint” of violence in her. In her seventeen years she had never been close to being in a fight. After being reassured by the nurses that Paula  would not be given any more “meds”, I did not fax this letter.

On Christmas Day, I arrived at the Camp to visit  Paula . I arrived at 8:30am. I got an audience with the doctor, who again said that  Paula needs these medications; I said they were making  Paula violent, and I don’t want  Paula to take them. The doctor said the side effects of abruptly stopping these medications can be dangerous, I said headaches, nausea, and dizziness, nothing as life-threatening as being impulsively aggressive, right? I took her non response as affirming. She said "we “can absolutely” stop all meds, we can absolutely do that".

After leaving the premises,  Paula said that after I had told them no more meds, the doctor had made her take the Trazodone.  Paula said that the doctor did not make her take the Paxil, but she did make her take the Trazodone. I had the letter that I had typed on the 23rd of December with me, so when I returned  Paula at 9:00pm, on Christmas, I took the letter in, signed it, put the present date, December 25, 2011 by my name, had the nurse make a copy, gave one to the nurse and the other to  Paula with the instructions that if anyone tries to give her drugs, she was to hand the letter to them.

----

My comment

As I said in my opening ramble, stories like this are becoming more common. Here we have a 17 year old girl with behavioral problems. Her grandmother, like many people, put her faith in the medical profession. She was thrown a lifeline that, in essence, had sharks on one end and Hades on the other.

Paula was given drugs for no other reason than to calm her down, chemical babysitters, if you will. What followed was a complete change in personality which included fits of rage and acts of voilence.

For a quack to prescribe someone so young 40mg of Paxil was, at best, sheer incompetence. Firstly, Paxil is not recommended for  17 year-olds, in fact no child or teen beyond the age of 24. Secondly, the recommended daily dose is 20mg. I'm also left wondering how Paula's doctor diagnosed her with depression that warranted an all out assault on her brain with such a concoction of medication. Did her doctor merely guess that Paula had depression or did he carry out extensive brain scans? I think we already know the answer to that question, don't we?

To prescribe Trazodone on top of Paxil was utter lunacy too. The 'Drug Information Online' is a database used by many healthcare professionals. It flags Paxil and Trazodone use as a major contraindication. The use of Paxil and Zyprexa has also been flagged on the database as has Trazodone and Zyprexa.

More importantly, and what the prescribing quack failed to understand, is the 'street drugs' that Paula had been taking prior to her admission into the centre. Did he ask her what street drugs she had used, did he check to see if it was safe to administer Paxil, Zyprexa and Trazodone on top of what she had already allegedly taken? Judging by the doctor's reluctance to check if the three aforementioned drugs were contraindicated it would appear that no history check of substance abuse was carried out by the prescribing physician. That's deeply worrying and highlights the incompetence and lack of knowledge these quacks have.

It's fair to say that Julie was at her wits end with her granddaughter, Paula. A profession [ahem] offered Julie a solution but those responsible became irresponsible the minute they started administering a cocktail of mind-altering drugs that interacted with each other and were not recommended for use.

They may as well have given  Paula a spoon, a lighter and a syringe.

Paula has an astute grandmother who has read about the dangers of psychiatric drugs. Julie has done her homework, unlike the quack that prescribed her granddaughter a dangerous concoction of toxic medication.

Paula should thank her grandmother for being so astute. There are others, many others, that have been less fortunate because back in the day when pharmaceutical companies and the medical profession had no opposition they were duping parents with their hard sell. They were trusted, they failed, they harmed, they killed. Had those left behind known about the dangers of psychiatric medication, had they have been given the chance to read what Julie had read then those featured in the video [below] would probably still be here today. It is in their deaths that folk like Julie have learned. It is they who are the voices, the regulators...the way to the truth.

It is they who should be respected.

Bob Fiddaman

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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


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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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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

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.

 

Fid


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Psychiatric Drugs - Even Psychiatry Isn't Sure.

A recent article on the CNN Health web page asked the question, Is it OK to be on antidepressants for years?

The answer, given by a psychiatrist, should embarrass those that manufacture these drugs, it should embarrass those that regulate these drugs. It should embarrass those that continue to prescribe these drugs.

Dr. Charles Raison, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University, and an expert in the mind-body connection for health.

Ten years ago my answer to this question would have been, "Certainly not."

A year ago my answer would have been, "Almost certainly not."

Now, unfortunately, the most honest answer I can give you is, "I'm not sure."

Coming from a guy who has treated thousands of people over the years with antidepressants, I have to admit that my uncertainty both shocks and distresses me.

I should probably get over my sense of shock. One of the glories of science is that it keeps moving forward, and as it does so, it usually sweeps old certainties into the dustbin.

Psychiatry's commitment to the unqualified goodness of antidepressants is one of those old certainties. That I'm distressed is understandable.

Dr Raison's full response HERE

If you put all the pieces of the jigsaw together, the picture becomes so much clearer folks.

Now watch the video:





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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.



Fid





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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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The British Journal of Psychiatry and It's pimping of Antidepressant Medication

It always amazes me when I stumble upon documents from years ago, this particular beauty was sent to me by Irish warrior Leonie Fennell. Leonie's son, Shane, killed himself whilst on the antidepressant medication Cipramil [known as Celexa in the US]

Leonie, who writes Leoniefennell's Blog, is in search of answers as to why her son was given a dangerous antidepressant. What she sent me is a PDF of The British Journal of Psychiatry, July 1998, Vol 173.

It's yet another fine example of the psychopharmaceutical monopoly, how everyone [except patients] are connected to the pimping of antidepressant/antipsychotic medication.

Vol 173 is littered with advertising for antidepressant/antipsychotic medication, the taglines are really quite sickening considering what we all know about these drugs. The 1998 'pharmaceutical catalogue' throws up the following full page ads: [CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE]

CIPRAMIL [CELEXA IN US]
DOWNLOAD Media reports regarding Cipramil/Celexa

DUTONIN
Antidepressant marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Its sale was discontinued in 2003 in some countries due to the rare incidence of hepatotoxicity (liver damage), which could lead to the need for a liver transplant, or even death. The incidence of severe liver damage is approximately 1 in every 250,000 to 300,000 patient-years. On May 20, 2004, Bristol-Myers Squibb discontinued the sale of Serzone in the United States and Canada. Several generic formulations of nefazodone are still available. [Source - Wikipedia]

EFEXOR [EFFEXOR IN US]
DOWNLOAD Media reports regarding Efexor/Effexor

EXELON
Rivastigmine (sold under the trade name Exelon) is a parasympathomimetic or cholinergic agent for the treatment of mild to moderate dementia of the Alzheimer’s type and dementia due to Parkinson's disease. The drug can be administered orally or via a transdermal patch; the latter form reduces the prevalence of side effects, which typically include nausea and vomiting.[2] The drug is eliminated through the urine, and appears to have relatively few drug-drug interactions. [Source - Wikipedia]

HUNTERCOMBE MANOR [PSYCHIATRIC UNIT FOR ADOLESCENTS]
Now called Huntercombe Hospital

PROZAC
DOWNLOAD Media reports regarding Prozac

RISPERDAL
Johnson & Johnson lost a $257.7 million jury verdict in Louisiana for making misleading claims about the safety of the company’s Risperdal antipsychotic drug. J&J officials defrauded the state’s Medicaid system by wrongfully touting Risperdal as superior to competing antipsychotic drugs and minimizing its links to diabetes, said jurors in state court in Opelousas, Louisiana. [LINK]

SERDOLECT
Serdolect has a fivefold increased risk for sudden cardiac death and no proven advantage in suicide risk compared with risperidone. [LINK]

SEROQUEL
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca will pay $520 million in fines to settle charges by the federal government that it illegally marketed the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel to children and elderly patients for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. [MORE]

SOLIAN
Side effects - Prolactin induction, thereby causing amenorrhoea and galactorrhoea in women, nausea, weight gain, insomnia, akathisia, sexual dysfunction, although much less than similar drugs in its class, and less commonly QT interval prolongation (which can lead to serious heart arrhythmias). Overdoses of amisulpride have been linked with torsades de pointes. [Wikipedia]

ZISPIN [AKA Remeron]
Clinical studies on Remeron and suicide showed that there is an increased risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviors in children and teenagers. [LINK]

ZYPREXA
Eli Lilly & Co. pleaded guilty to a charge that it illegally marketed the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa for an unapproved use, and will pay $1.42 billion to settle civil suits and end the criminal investigation. [LINK]

TOPAMAX
On May 21, 2010, Ortho-McNeil plead guilty and was fined US$6.14 million by the FDA for promoting Topamax to treat psychiatric disorders, without applying for any approval and there was no data from any well-controlled clinical trial to demonstrate that Topamax was safe and effective to treat any psychiatric conditions. [Wikipedia]

SEROXAT/PAXIL/AROPAX
DOWNLOAD Media reports regarding Seroxat/Paxil/Aropax.
Also read the now infamous Paxil 329 documents that GlaxoSmithKline [then Smith Kline Beecham] tried to hide - HERE

The British Journal of Psychiatry - serving the pharmaceutical industry and putting lives at risk.

Read The British Journal of Psychiatry, July 1998, Vol 173 HERE

Fid

Special thanks to Leonie Fennell for passing the information over to me.


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