Pharma Targets Foster Kids with anti-psychotics without consent
I even have to admit after watching this tragic phenomena of Pharmaceutical Criminal Activity take over medicine for decades now; the lengths big pharmaceutical corporations and even doctors will go to in making money absolutely makes me sick to my stomach and very angry.
The sad and tragic truth of this following report about foster children in Illinois: is that this corporate behavior is being mirrored in just about every state and county throughout America. The cost? The expense in dollar terms is more than significant and mind boggling no doubt; but absolutely pales in comparison to carnage of human damage and suffering being imposed upon this very vulnerable populations of children.
How absurd has this out of control greed actually gotten, and where is it going?
A conservative estimation points toward Pharmaceutical Corporate Interest looking somewhere around a 50% target group level in children for a psychiatric diagnosis and treatment with pharmaceutical medications.
It will look something like this in your community school class room of thirty students; 5 normal energetic boys will be diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, 4 very creative and above normal intellect girls with be diagnosed with major depression or early onset bipolar disorder, 3 other children of mixed sex will be diagnosed with OCD and milder depression, and 3 other children will be diagnosed with "behavioral conduct disorder".
All of these children will be drugged with a variety of psychotropic medications. These very same children will go through a myriad of other diagnosis and medications throughout their developmental years and process.
Some will end up physically disabled from the effects of these medications. Others will develop much more serious psychiatric conditions that will entrench them in a Mental Health System and possible institutionalization for the rest of their lives. Others still, will suffer the unyielding consequences of both and may no longer be with us in this life's journey.
The actual cost in human and dollar terms is just unfathomable. A few may actually survive this assault on their minds and bodies, going on to live possibly less productive and happiness filled lives.
Only the most behaviorally sedate and cooperative will be spared a diagnostic fate. But they will not go unscathed; since they will also loose out in this process; those valued friendships, competitive challenges, differing opinions, and joyful experiences that can't be measured in dollars will be lost forever.
The cost of this criminal modality will also fall directly upon them as they reach the most productive years of their life.
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From Chicago Tribune reports
As bipolar diagnoses in foster children rise, informed consent becomes a bygone
Psychotropics given to wards without state's OK
Powerful mood-altering drugs were prescribed to hundreds of Illinois foster children without the required consent of state child welfare officials, a Tribune analysis of government data has found.
And increasing numbers of young wards were diagnosed with bipolar disorder and given a class of anti-psychotic medicines that some physicians consider risky for youths because they can cause such side effects as metabolic abnormalities and pronounced weight gain.
The number of Illinois wards diagnosed with bipolar disorder nearly doubled between 2000 and 2007, when roughly 9 percent of the state's nearly 16,000 wards were diagnosed as bipolar, the Tribune found.
"This is a really concerning statistic," said Dr. Michael Naylor, a University of Illinois at Chicago psychiatrist who reviews psychotropic medicine regimens for the state Department of Children and Family Services. Naylor said he worries that drug firms' marketing efforts are driving the diagnoses.
Many doctors say psychotropic medicines give troubled youths a precious chance at normalcy. But the drugs can pose special risks for foster children, who often lack a consistent adult to monitor treatment over time.
Illinois has seen a steady increase in the number of state wards simultaneously prescribed four or more of the psychotropic medications. During 2007, the most recent year when complete data were immediately available, more than 10 percent of Illinois wards given any psychotropic drug were taking four or more simultaneously, the Tribune found.
The danger, said University of Maryland professor Julie Zito, is that youths are being given multiple medications because existing regimens prove fruitless, or because new medications must be added to counteract side effects from other drugs.
Illinois' system of providing informed consent for psychotropic medications to foster children and of oversight of prescribing is considered the gold standard for state child welfare agencies. But during 2007, psychotropic medicines were administered to some 240 foster children without the state's consent, the Tribune found. That year, DCFS consented to the psychotropic medication of 3,320 wards, while separate Medicaid prescription records show the drugs were administered to 3,564 wards.
Some doctors may be unaware that their patients are foster children, but other physicians are skirting the consent laws, Naylor said.
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2 comments:
It is sickening that meds are often the the first line of treatment with these children. Often, they just need a consistent, stable environment with clearly defined behavioral expectations. Most respond really well to behavior modification and counseling, but I guess that takes too much time and energy on the part of teachers and adults dealing with them.
Thank you, as always, for standing up for those who can't stand up for themselves.
Wow! You hit the nail on the head. My oldest daughter, who had been identified as gifted by our school district, was acting out, as teens normally do, and DCFS/CPS became involved. Before we knew it, DCFS/CPS snatched her away because we refused to give her an anti-depressant. (DCFS/CPS hired their own psychiatrist to diagnose her as Major Depressive & Oppositional Defiant). We won in court, but it took almost 2 years. In the meantime DCFS/CPS kept trying to force court-ordered meds. It was a nightmare! By the way, this happened in California and we live in an affluent neighborhood. I don't think we would have been successful in court under different circumstances. I wouldn't be surprised if we later found out that the pharmaceutical companies were also bribing DCFS/CPS or the judges in children's court.
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