Forced Medication -- Could Your Child be Next?

[Mrs. Sharon B. Hodge]

Forced Medication -- Could Your Child be Next?


State mandated drugging of children as young as three years old is a disturbing yet growing trend. Here Gregory Hession, J.D., recounts one of his cases where he tried, in vain, to uphold a heartbroken mother’s wishes not to drug her six-year-old mildly autistic son, who had been taken into state custody after her refusal.

Without the presence of a single doctor, the court decided to put the child on five powerful anti-psychotic drugs, even though none of these drugs have been approved by the FDA for use in children.

Peter Breggin, M.D., author of Toxic Psychiatry and other books about the use of psychiatric drugs, maintains that no psychiatric drug treatment corrects or improves existing brain dysfunction (such as a biochemical imbalance.) This, he says, is a major misunderstanding about psychiatry that the profession tries to hide because it places these drugs outside the scope of proper treatment for mental disorders.

The central reason for today’s mental health diagnoses run amok is the fact that without a diagnosis code, your insurance company cannot reimburse your mental health provider.

All mental health diagnoses are codified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), originally published in 1952 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). At that time, it had 112 entries.

Since then the APA has added hundreds more, based on the current whims of the profession and the most current in-vogue maladies.

The current DSM-IV and the soon to be released DSM-V include such gems as:

Mathematics disorder
Caffeine disorder
Disorder of Written Expression
Telephone Scatialogia
Malingering
These absurd codes make it possible for your mental health professional to invoice for your visit, no matter how normal or innocent the real problem might be. And with the bill comes a label, and most often a drug.

Sources:
The New American September 17, 2007


It’s a heartbreaking tragedy that these parents are being forced to drug their children into a stupor with powerful poisons, all of which will have far-reaching, long-term ramifications.

For the last several years, we have known that antidepressants significantly increase the risk of suicide in children. They have also been associated with violent behavior, which would likely trigger yet additional psychotropic medications for these innocent children.

What’s even more troubling is that parents can now face criminal charges if they refuse to medicate, or decide to stop their child’s medications after seeing the negative side effects.

These medicines may provide some benefit in some extreme cases where an actual mental disorder exists. However, most of these diagnoses are fraudulent to begin with, and these drugs -- in no way, shape, or form -- even begin to treat the foundational cause of your child’s behavioral problem.

Throwing antipsychotic drugs -- particularly off-label concoctions meant for adults -- at kids is one of the worst abuses of conventional medicine. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that once conventional medicine's consciousness evolves, they will look at the current standard of care in prescribing anti-psychotic drugs to kids as equivalent to tobacco companies advertising cigarettes in professional medical journals.

This issue is particularly distressing because the diet changes I recommend work so well for so many of these medicated mental and behavioral problems.

How to Correct Behavioral Problems Without Drugs

The key strategy to protecting your child or children from state mandated drugging with a drug very similar to cocaine, is to make sure your child does not have any of these behaviors…

Fortunately, that is a simple step to take.

Behavioral problems in children are very frequently related to improper diet, and exposure to toxins. I have treated many thousands of children with ADHD and autism and have seen most of them improve in some way and frequently quite dramatically. Many completely normalize once we address the underlying causes, which are almost always related to these factors:

Lack of high-quality omega-3 fats
Excess of grains and sugars, along with soft drinks and fruit juices in their diets
Exposure to toxins like mercury in vaccines
The foods your children eat have a far more profound influence on their emotions than you may think. This is particularly true for sugars and grains that require insulin to metabolize them. Elevated insulin levels will lead to disrupted serotonin and other neurochemicals, which will lead to depression.

It’s downright tragic that wonderful tools like high-quality fish oil, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, are not used more frequently.

Sixty percent of your brain is composed of fat and half of that fat is DHA, one of the fats in fish oil. Your body can't make it, and if you don't supply it through your diet you will suffer neurological complications.

Exercise can also be beneficial in helping children with emotional disturbances of all kinds. Today many children lead sedentary lifestyles with little physical activity, which can add to the natural inclination of children to “act out.”

Other tools, which I’ve found to be more effective than traditional psychotherapy, are energy psychology tools such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Consulting with an EFT professional can be an amazing start. Gary Craig has a list of EFT Practitioner Referrals from the United States and the world.

There are indeed some basic options that do not include drugging your child. These simple interventions mentioned above could change their entire life.


US Courts Forcing Parents to Medicate Children


Some public schools are accusing parents of child abuse when they balk at giving their kids drugs such as Ritalin, and as judges begin to agree, some parents are medicating their children for fear of having them hauled away by authorities.

There is a growing debate about diagnosing and medicating children with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In Albany, NY, a couple put their 7 year old son back on Ritalin after a family court ruled that they must continue medicating him for ADD.

Child protective services visited a NY couple after anonymous allegations of "medical neglect" were reported after they took their son off of Ritalin and other drugs because of the side effects.

Maryland psychiatrist Peter Breggin says that often divorced parents disagree on medicating kids, and judges recently have ruled in favor of the parent who wants to medicate.

According to Peter Jensen, who is on the board of Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder, the courts are going to rule in favor of medication more and more.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 3.8 million school children are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and at least 2 million take Ritalin, a stimulant, for symptoms such as inattentiveness, impulsivity and sometimes hyperactivity. Many others are treated with different drugs.

The long-term effects of children talking stimulants have not yet been studied.

William Frankenberger, who has studied ADD/ADHD at the University of Wisconsin-EAU Claire for more than 20 years, says it's "disturbing to take a decision like that out of parent's hands."

In an accompanying article, several parents described their personal stories. One couple had a police officer come to their door. Only the fact that they had gotten a second opinion IN WRITING that her son did not need to take any medication saved them from possibly having him taken into protective custody. They had decided to take him off of the medications that he was on - Ritalin, Dexadrine, and Paxil, because they caused serious side-effects such as withdrawl and hallucinations. Currently, their son is taking no medication and is on a special diet which helps with his condition.

USA Today August 8, 2000.


it is a sad tragedy that these parents are being forced to give these poisons to their children. These medicines do seem to provide some benefit, but in no way, shape, or form do they even being to treat the foundational cause of this problem, which is related to an excess of grains, sugars, underground vegetables, and any fluid other than water.

This is particularly distressing as the diet changes I recommend works so well. There is not a week that goes by where I don't see some child with ADHD or autism have a near miraculous improvement from the diet changes. If you are not yet convinced of the dangers of Ritalin I would strongly recommend that you read Dr. Mary Ann Block's book No More Ritalin (see below). Dr. Block is a personal friend and I believe the book is an excellent resource to convince wavering parents.

Related Articles:

Untested Ritalin/Prozac Combination Used by More Children

Large Numbers of Kids Already On Ritalin

Why Are So Many Kids On Ritalin?

Uncontrolled ADHD Increases Risk of Problems as Adult