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Kids at Risk Action (KARA) – Children's Rights Advocacy Network
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« More Volunteers Needed For Children In Court SystemJuvenile Injustice – Mental Health
Published by Mike Tikkanenon February 11, 2010in Health and Mental Health, Public Policy and The States. 0 Comments
Tags: lack of oversight in New York's mental health facilities for youth mirrors the rest of the nation..
Today’s NY Times article on the lack of oversight in New York’s mental health facilities for youth mirrors the rest of the nation.
2 Important truths; most of the youth in the juvenile justice system have come through child protection services, & a large percentage of these youth suffer from mental health issues.
Children don’t become involved in child protection systems unless they have suffered extended exposure to violence and deprivation in their birth homes.
The World Health Organizations definition of Torture is; Extended Exposure to Violence and Deprivation – Trauma.
New York is now spending about $250,000 per year / per youth in their juvenile justice system.
http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2009/12/14/new-york-meet-missouri/
In my experience as a guardian ad-Litem in MN I have watched really terrible things happen to very troubled children under the direction of people and programs that were supposed to be “helping” the child.
One young boy walked home many miles without a coat, on a sub zero MN night (with no home to go to) from a juvenile facility after being severely abused.
While it would be easy to blame the people in the institutions, it is really the fault of poor public policy, resulting from lack of understanding of underlying issues.
Mental health is all about functioning within our communities. Bear that in mind as you read the New York Times article and the following KARA pieces.
My note on the following; The amount of psychotropic medications being proscribed to this population is enormous in relation to the the therapy that is needed but not available.
For Detained Youths, No Mental Health Overseer
By JULIE BOSMAN New York Times
Published: February 10, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/nyregion/11youth.html
Other Invisible Children mental health articles;
http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2009/03/10/a-grim-truth-about-big-pharma/
http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2009/06/21/amy-shermans-blog-for-floridas-at-risk-children/
http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2009/06/05/study-early-therapy-can-save-teens-from-depression/
http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2008/09/28/ptsd-study-of-abused-children/
http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2009/07/23/abandoned-abandoned-again-and-tasered-whats-next-for-at-risk-youth/
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/KidsAtRisk
Click here to join our Linked in online discussion about at risk children
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2468497&trk=anet_ug_hm
Become part of our email network by sending a request to join to; amy.rostronledoux@yahoo.com
http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2010/02/11/juvenile-injustice-mental-health/
Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Attorney to Sue Doctors Who Misuse Drugs on Children
Health Investigations
Attorney to Sue Doctors Who Misuse Drugs on Children
February 8, 2010 Alison Bass It’s true that the drug industry was hard hit last year with some pretty hefty fines for the illegal off-label promotion of drugs — $1.4 billion against Eli Lilly for its off-label promotion of Zyprexa and $2.3 billion against Pfizer for doing the same with several drugs. But such fines, many say, are still considered the cost of doing business in an industry that raked in close to $300 billion in U.S. drug sales in 2008 (and more in 2009), according to IMS Health Reports.
Now, Alaska attorney Jim Gottstein has proposed a different and potentially more effective approach toward curbing the systemic over-drugging of economically disadvantaged youngsters in this country, a sad reality which I’ve written about here and here. According to one recent study, children covered by Medicaid are given anti-psychotics such as Zyprexa and Seroquel (which have serious side effects) four times as often as children whose parents have private insurance. These drugs are often prescribed as chemical straitjackets to control children whose parents or foster families are unable to give them the attention and parenting they need. That was certainly the case for four-year-old Rebecca Riley, who died from an overdose of psychoactive drugs prescribed by a psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center, Kayoko Kifuji.
Gottstein has launched an initiative to sue doctors like Kifuji who blithely prescribe potent drugs that are not approved for use in children. These lawsuits, filed under a federal Qui Tam complaint, would target not only the individual doctors but the hospitals and clinics that employ them and the pharmacies that fill their prescriptions and submit them to Medicaid for reimbursement. It is Gottstein’s contention that these prescriptions constitute Medicaid fraud since they are written for uses that are not medically accepted (i.e. off-label). There is legal precedent for this kind of argument. Indeed, the Department of Justice’s news release announcing its $2.3 billion settlement with Pfizer says that the drug giant caused false claims to be submitted to government health care programs for uses that were not medically accepted indications. So if the feds can succeed with this kind of argument, why not individual claimants?
Gottstein is planning to discuss his medicaid fraud initiative in a lecture webinar on Feb. 24, sponsored by the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology. So if you know of a disadvantaged child who was slapped on drugs he or she didn’t need, you might want to listen in.
Alison Bass
http://thefastertimes.com/healthinvestigations/2010/02/08/attorney-to-sue-doctors-who-misuse-drugs-on-children/
Attorney to Sue Doctors Who Misuse Drugs on Children
February 8, 2010 Alison Bass It’s true that the drug industry was hard hit last year with some pretty hefty fines for the illegal off-label promotion of drugs — $1.4 billion against Eli Lilly for its off-label promotion of Zyprexa and $2.3 billion against Pfizer for doing the same with several drugs. But such fines, many say, are still considered the cost of doing business in an industry that raked in close to $300 billion in U.S. drug sales in 2008 (and more in 2009), according to IMS Health Reports.
Now, Alaska attorney Jim Gottstein has proposed a different and potentially more effective approach toward curbing the systemic over-drugging of economically disadvantaged youngsters in this country, a sad reality which I’ve written about here and here. According to one recent study, children covered by Medicaid are given anti-psychotics such as Zyprexa and Seroquel (which have serious side effects) four times as often as children whose parents have private insurance. These drugs are often prescribed as chemical straitjackets to control children whose parents or foster families are unable to give them the attention and parenting they need. That was certainly the case for four-year-old Rebecca Riley, who died from an overdose of psychoactive drugs prescribed by a psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center, Kayoko Kifuji.
Gottstein has launched an initiative to sue doctors like Kifuji who blithely prescribe potent drugs that are not approved for use in children. These lawsuits, filed under a federal Qui Tam complaint, would target not only the individual doctors but the hospitals and clinics that employ them and the pharmacies that fill their prescriptions and submit them to Medicaid for reimbursement. It is Gottstein’s contention that these prescriptions constitute Medicaid fraud since they are written for uses that are not medically accepted (i.e. off-label). There is legal precedent for this kind of argument. Indeed, the Department of Justice’s news release announcing its $2.3 billion settlement with Pfizer says that the drug giant caused false claims to be submitted to government health care programs for uses that were not medically accepted indications. So if the feds can succeed with this kind of argument, why not individual claimants?
Gottstein is planning to discuss his medicaid fraud initiative in a lecture webinar on Feb. 24, sponsored by the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology. So if you know of a disadvantaged child who was slapped on drugs he or she didn’t need, you might want to listen in.
Alison Bass
http://thefastertimes.com/healthinvestigations/2010/02/08/attorney-to-sue-doctors-who-misuse-drugs-on-children/
Foster Care Quality Linked to Hyperactive Youths' Progress Study finds number of foster care moves also affects behavior of children with ADHD
Foster Care Quality Linked to Hyperactive Youths' Progress
Study finds number of foster care moves also affects behavior of children with ADHDPublish date: Feb 1, 2010
Del.icio.usDiggRedditFacebook
MONDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- The degrees of parental warmth and hostility, as well as the number of foster-care moves, affect the progression of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity among children placed in foster care, according to a study published online Feb. 1 in Pediatrics.
L. Oriana Linares, Ph.D., of the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a study of 252 maltreated children placed with 95 families. They gathered data from biological parents, foster parents and classroom teachers regarding parental warmth and hostility and the stability of placement, as well as the progress of symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
The odds of higher inattention were greater among children who experienced less warmth and more hostility from their parents, the researchers found. These two factors were also associated with higher hyperactivity, as were a higher average number of moves and discharge from care, the investigators note.
"The results of this study advance the current knowledge of family variables that affect the course of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms in foster care," the authors write. "These data offer an emerging clinical picture of risk for symptom types under the unique caregiving conditions of foster placement. The identification of parental quality and placement stability as malleable factors points to intervention goals for promoting child psychological well-being in the foster care system."
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Copyright © 2010 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/Modern+Medicine+Now/Foster-Care-Quality-Linked-to-Hyperactive-Youths-P/ArticleNewsFeed/Article/detail/654709?contextCategoryId=40165
Study finds number of foster care moves also affects behavior of children with ADHDPublish date: Feb 1, 2010
Del.icio.usDiggRedditFacebook
MONDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- The degrees of parental warmth and hostility, as well as the number of foster-care moves, affect the progression of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity among children placed in foster care, according to a study published online Feb. 1 in Pediatrics.
L. Oriana Linares, Ph.D., of the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a study of 252 maltreated children placed with 95 families. They gathered data from biological parents, foster parents and classroom teachers regarding parental warmth and hostility and the stability of placement, as well as the progress of symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
The odds of higher inattention were greater among children who experienced less warmth and more hostility from their parents, the researchers found. These two factors were also associated with higher hyperactivity, as were a higher average number of moves and discharge from care, the investigators note.
"The results of this study advance the current knowledge of family variables that affect the course of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms in foster care," the authors write. "These data offer an emerging clinical picture of risk for symptom types under the unique caregiving conditions of foster placement. The identification of parental quality and placement stability as malleable factors points to intervention goals for promoting child psychological well-being in the foster care system."
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Copyright © 2010 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/Modern+Medicine+Now/Foster-Care-Quality-Linked-to-Hyperactive-Youths-P/ArticleNewsFeed/Article/detail/654709?contextCategoryId=40165
NYS Legislation to Vaccinate Children WITHOUT Parental Consent
NYS Legislation to Vaccinate Children WITHOUT Parental Cons
Vince Boehm *
http://www.ahrp.org
FYI/ ACTION
The New York State Senate is about to vote on legislation that will give a
school nurse or doctor the power to vaccinate children under- age 18 years
of age with controversial vaccines such as GARDASIL and Hep B-- WITHOUT
parental "consent or knowledge." Sexually transmitted diseases are NOT
communicable through casual contact. The Gardasil vaccine is engulfed in
much controversy because it is not at all proven that its risk / benefit
ratio favors children's welfare.
Indeed, the vaccine's period of effectiveness is unknown while mounting
evidence shows that it poses serious risks for some children and young women
exposed to it.
See: The Risks and Benefits of HPV Vaccination by Charlotte Haug, MD, PhD,
MSc JAMA. EDITORIAL. 2009;302(7):795-796.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/302/7/795?home
Not be ignored is Merck's record of aggressive, illegal marketing of drugs
including the Gardasil vaccine: Merck is on record of having bribed state
legislators to mandate Gardasil.
Let the NYS legislators below know that S4779B violates parental rights and
responsibility to make healthcare decisions on behalf of their children.
S4779B is BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF SCHOOL AUTHORITY.
Who will bear moral, medical, and financial responsibility should a child be
harmed by a vaccine that was administered to a child WITHOUT parental
knowledge or consent?
Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
veracare@ahrp.org
212-595-8974
"Gary Krasner"
Date: February 8, 2010 10:38:49 AM EST
To: cfic@nyct.net
Subject: URGENT: info for religious or vaccine-aware parents
Reply-To: cfic@nyct.net
Friends: The following info is of critical importance to religious
conservatives and/or parents who wish to have consent rights for
vaccinations.
The NYS Senate Code Committee will vote on S4779B Tuesday (tomorrow)
at 10:30 AM in the capitol blding. L
WHY is this bill bad?
It gives a school nurse or MD the power to vaccinate or treat (if
infected) your under-18 year old child with STD vaccinations (Hep-B and
GARDASIL) WITHOUT your "consent or knowledge."
It also seems flawed. Are there provisions in state law that
defines one who has a "capacity" to consent to a vaccination? If not, then
how can this law be implemented? And what would prevent a school nurse from
vaxxing a 6 yr old student? And how could a 6 yr old "consent" to
obtaining a vaccine?
This is the applicable excerpt:
QUOTE
This section also provides that a health care practitioner may
provide health care related to the prevention of a sexually transmissible
disease, including administering vaccines, to a person under age eighteen
without the consent or knowledge of his or her parents or guardians,
provided such person has capacity to, consent to the care, without regard to
the person's age, and the-person consents.
UNQUOTE
There are other problems with this bill. But here's the wording for
you to judge:
BILL NUMBER: S4779B
TITLE OF BILL : An act to amend the public health law, in relation
to providing medical care to minors for sexually transmitted diseases
without a parent's or guardian's consent
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL : To ensure that the immunization
against HPV is administered to people at a time when it is most effective.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS : Section one amends section 2305 of
the public health law to provide that no person other than a health care
practitioner shall diagnose, treat or prescribe for a person who is infected
with a sexually transmissible disease, or who has been exposed to infection
with a sexually transmissible disease, or dispense or sell a drug, medicine
or remedy for the treatment of such person except on prescription of a
health care practitioner.
Section two amends subdivision 2 of section 2305 of the public
health law to provide that a health care practitioner may diagnose, treat or
prescribe treatment for a sexually transmissible disease for a person under
age eighteen without the consent or knowledge of his or her parents or
guardians where such person is infected with a sexually transmissible
disease or has been exposed to infection with a sexually transmissible
disease.
This section also provides that a health care practitioner may
provide health care related to the prevention of a sexually transmissible
disease, including administering vaccines, to a person under age eighteen
without the consent or knowledge of his or her parents or guardians,
provided such person has capacity to, consent to the care, without regard to
the person's age, and the-person consents. The section provides further that
any release of patient information regarding vaccines provided under this
section shall be consistent with sections 17 and 18 of the public health law
and other applicable laws and regulations.
ACTION TO TAKE:
from Lisa Rudley:
Please ACT NOW as there is an important vote going through this
Tuesday
(2/9/10) that would further this very DESTRUCTIVE bill! One phone
call, one
fax will make all the difference. We have defeated these types of
bills
before, but we need every concerned New Yorker contacting their
legislators
immediately.
I will be going to Albany early Tuesday morning, please let me know
if
anyone wants to join me. Let's protect our kids together!!! Please
forward
the below alert to all your lists immediately.
Help Stop the Destruction of Parental Rights in New York Regarding
Vaccines
Help DEFEAT Proposed Bills that Would:
1. Permit ALL Present and Future Vaccines and Drugs for Sexually
Transmitted
Diseases to be Given to New York Children WITHOUT Parental
Consent
(S4779 and A6702
)
2. Legally Force Controversial HPV Vaccine on 6th Grade New York
Schoolchildren (A0778 )
Spending Just a Few Minutes Can Make a Difference:
1. IMMEDIATELY Forward this note to everyone you know in New York
state
2. Ask your elected Senator and Assembly Member to OPPOSE S4779,
A6702 and
A0778!
* Use the "Find My Senator" section on
http://www.nysenate.gov/ and
the "Member Search by Zip Code" on http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/
* Use the contact information to CALL, EMAIL, and FAX to
send the
strongest message
3. Request members of the Senate Codes Committee vote AGAINST S4779
before
the committee hearing on Tuesday 2/9/10
Chair: Sen. Eric T. Schneiderman, (518) 455-2041,
schneide@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6847
Sen. John J. Bonacic, (518) 455-3181, bonacic@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6948
Sen. Neil D. Breslin, (518) 455-2225, breslin@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6807
Sen. John A. DeFrancisco , (518) 455-3511,
jdefranc@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518) 426-6952
Sen. Thomas K. Duane, (518) 455-2451, duane@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518)
426-6846
Sen. John J. Flanagan, (518) 455-2071, flanagan@senate.state.ny.us,
fax
(518) 426-6904
Sen. Martin J. Golden, (518) 455-2730, golden@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6910
Sen. Shirley L. Huntley, (518) 455-3531,
shuntley@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518) 426-6859
Sen. Jeffrey D. Klein, (518) 455-3595, jdklein@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6847
Sen. Andrew J Lanza, (518) 455-3215, lanza@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518)
426-6852
Sen. Kevin S. Parker, (518) 455-2580, parker@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518)
426-6843
Sen. Bill Perkins,( 518) 455-2441, perkins@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518)
426-6809
Sen. Stephen M. Saland, (518) 455-2411, saland@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6920
Sen. John L. Sampson, (518) 455-2788, sampson@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6806
Sen. Daniel L. Squadron, (518) 455-2625,
squadron@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518) 426-6956
Sen. Dale M. Volker, (518) 455-3471, volker@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518)
426-6949
4. Please send a copy of your letter and any responses you receive
to
nyvaccinechoice@gmail.com
Key Talking Points:
Oppose S4779 and A6702 which permit ALL present and future vaccines
and
drugs for sexually transmitted diseases to be given to New York
children
WITHOUT parental consent
* These bills remove parental rights for all New York
parents
* If a child has a drug or vaccine reaction, the parents
won't know
what is happening or how to help
* These bills apply to ALL children - there is NO age limit
* A child's has a limited capacity to understand
pharmaceutical drug
and vaccine risks and identify side effects they may experience
* Unknown vaccine administrators don't know the child's
medical
history, vaccine contraindications, allergies, and past vaccine
reactions
* Children unknowingly are giving up their legal rights when
asking
for a vaccine because Federal
QUESTIONS?
contact Lisa Rudley, Heather Walker, and John Gilmore for additional
instructions on what can be done:
Lisa Rudley, Heather Walker
, John Gilmore
Gary Krasner, Director
Coalition For Informed Choice
188-34 87th Drive, Suite 4B
Holliswood, NY 11423
718-479-2939
CFIC@nyct.net
www.CFIC.us
NOTE -- Please use only if your message
carries file attachments totaling over 2 MB.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over
public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled" . . . Richard P.
Feynman
DISCLAIMER:
I'm neither a lawyer nor medical physician. It should not be
construed from any materials I distribute that I'm dispensing legal or
medical advice.
List members noted in Green text.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted (© ) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.
The information herein shall not be considered an endorsement of anyone discontinuing psychiatric drugs. If you are stopping taking medication IT IS ADVISABLE TO REDUCE DOSES GRADUALLY WITH EXTREME CAUTION, as it is difficult to predict who will have problems withdrawing. It is worth getting as much information and support as you can, and involving your doctor wherever possible. You will find withdrawal information here: http://theicarusproject.net/
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WITHDRAWAL:: Get Peter Lehmann's book, Coming off Psychiatric Drugs: Successful Withdrawal from Neuroleptics, Antidepressants, Lithium, Carbamazepine and Tranquilizers. This valuable resource comes in US, UK, Greek. and German editions.
Vince Boehm *
http://www.ahrp.org
FYI/ ACTION
The New York State Senate is about to vote on legislation that will give a
school nurse or doctor the power to vaccinate children under- age 18 years
of age with controversial vaccines such as GARDASIL and Hep B-- WITHOUT
parental "consent or knowledge." Sexually transmitted diseases are NOT
communicable through casual contact. The Gardasil vaccine is engulfed in
much controversy because it is not at all proven that its risk / benefit
ratio favors children's welfare.
Indeed, the vaccine's period of effectiveness is unknown while mounting
evidence shows that it poses serious risks for some children and young women
exposed to it.
See: The Risks and Benefits of HPV Vaccination by Charlotte Haug, MD, PhD,
MSc JAMA. EDITORIAL. 2009;302(7):795-796.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/302/7/795?home
Not be ignored is Merck's record of aggressive, illegal marketing of drugs
including the Gardasil vaccine: Merck is on record of having bribed state
legislators to mandate Gardasil.
Let the NYS legislators below know that S4779B violates parental rights and
responsibility to make healthcare decisions on behalf of their children.
S4779B is BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF SCHOOL AUTHORITY.
Who will bear moral, medical, and financial responsibility should a child be
harmed by a vaccine that was administered to a child WITHOUT parental
knowledge or consent?
Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
veracare@ahrp.org
212-595-8974
"Gary Krasner"
Date: February 8, 2010 10:38:49 AM EST
To: cfic@nyct.net
Subject: URGENT: info for religious or vaccine-aware parents
Reply-To: cfic@nyct.net
Friends: The following info is of critical importance to religious
conservatives and/or parents who wish to have consent rights for
vaccinations.
The NYS Senate Code Committee will vote on S4779B Tuesday (tomorrow)
at 10:30 AM in the capitol blding. L
WHY is this bill bad?
It gives a school nurse or MD the power to vaccinate or treat (if
infected) your under-18 year old child with STD vaccinations (Hep-B and
GARDASIL) WITHOUT your "consent or knowledge."
It also seems flawed. Are there provisions in state law that
defines one who has a "capacity" to consent to a vaccination? If not, then
how can this law be implemented? And what would prevent a school nurse from
vaxxing a 6 yr old student? And how could a 6 yr old "consent" to
obtaining a vaccine?
This is the applicable excerpt:
QUOTE
This section also provides that a health care practitioner may
provide health care related to the prevention of a sexually transmissible
disease, including administering vaccines, to a person under age eighteen
without the consent or knowledge of his or her parents or guardians,
provided such person has capacity to, consent to the care, without regard to
the person's age, and the-person consents.
UNQUOTE
There are other problems with this bill. But here's the wording for
you to judge:
BILL NUMBER: S4779B
TITLE OF BILL : An act to amend the public health law, in relation
to providing medical care to minors for sexually transmitted diseases
without a parent's or guardian's consent
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL : To ensure that the immunization
against HPV is administered to people at a time when it is most effective.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS : Section one amends section 2305 of
the public health law to provide that no person other than a health care
practitioner shall diagnose, treat or prescribe for a person who is infected
with a sexually transmissible disease, or who has been exposed to infection
with a sexually transmissible disease, or dispense or sell a drug, medicine
or remedy for the treatment of such person except on prescription of a
health care practitioner.
Section two amends subdivision 2 of section 2305 of the public
health law to provide that a health care practitioner may diagnose, treat or
prescribe treatment for a sexually transmissible disease for a person under
age eighteen without the consent or knowledge of his or her parents or
guardians where such person is infected with a sexually transmissible
disease or has been exposed to infection with a sexually transmissible
disease.
This section also provides that a health care practitioner may
provide health care related to the prevention of a sexually transmissible
disease, including administering vaccines, to a person under age eighteen
without the consent or knowledge of his or her parents or guardians,
provided such person has capacity to, consent to the care, without regard to
the person's age, and the-person consents. The section provides further that
any release of patient information regarding vaccines provided under this
section shall be consistent with sections 17 and 18 of the public health law
and other applicable laws and regulations.
ACTION TO TAKE:
from Lisa Rudley:
Please ACT NOW as there is an important vote going through this
Tuesday
(2/9/10) that would further this very DESTRUCTIVE bill! One phone
call, one
fax will make all the difference. We have defeated these types of
bills
before, but we need every concerned New Yorker contacting their
legislators
immediately.
I will be going to Albany early Tuesday morning, please let me know
if
anyone wants to join me. Let's protect our kids together!!! Please
forward
the below alert to all your lists immediately.
Help Stop the Destruction of Parental Rights in New York Regarding
Vaccines
Help DEFEAT Proposed Bills that Would:
1. Permit ALL Present and Future Vaccines and Drugs for Sexually
Transmitted
Diseases to be Given to New York Children WITHOUT Parental
Consent
(S4779
2. Legally Force Controversial HPV Vaccine on 6th Grade New York
Schoolchildren (A0778
Spending Just a Few Minutes Can Make a Difference:
1. IMMEDIATELY Forward this note to everyone you know in New York
state
2. Ask your elected Senator and Assembly Member to OPPOSE S4779,
A6702 and
A0778!
* Use the "Find My Senator" section on
http://www.nysenate.gov/ and
the "Member Search by Zip Code" on http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/
* Use the contact information to CALL, EMAIL, and FAX to
send the
strongest message
3. Request members of the Senate Codes Committee vote AGAINST S4779
before
the committee hearing on Tuesday 2/9/10
Chair: Sen. Eric T. Schneiderman, (518) 455-2041,
schneide@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6847
Sen. John J. Bonacic, (518) 455-3181, bonacic@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6948
Sen. Neil D. Breslin, (518) 455-2225, breslin@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6807
Sen. John A. DeFrancisco , (518) 455-3511,
jdefranc@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518) 426-6952
Sen. Thomas K. Duane, (518) 455-2451, duane@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518)
426-6846
Sen. John J. Flanagan, (518) 455-2071, flanagan@senate.state.ny.us,
fax
(518) 426-6904
Sen. Martin J. Golden, (518) 455-2730, golden@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6910
Sen. Shirley L. Huntley, (518) 455-3531,
shuntley@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518) 426-6859
Sen. Jeffrey D. Klein, (518) 455-3595, jdklein@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6847
Sen. Andrew J Lanza, (518) 455-3215, lanza@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518)
426-6852
Sen. Kevin S. Parker, (518) 455-2580, parker@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518)
426-6843
Sen. Bill Perkins,( 518) 455-2441, perkins@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518)
426-6809
Sen. Stephen M. Saland, (518) 455-2411, saland@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6920
Sen. John L. Sampson, (518) 455-2788, sampson@senate.state.ny.us,
fax (518)
426-6806
Sen. Daniel L. Squadron, (518) 455-2625,
squadron@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518) 426-6956
Sen. Dale M. Volker, (518) 455-3471, volker@senate.state.ny.us, fax
(518)
426-6949
4. Please send a copy of your letter and any responses you receive
to
nyvaccinechoice@gmail.com
Key Talking Points:
Oppose S4779 and A6702 which permit ALL present and future vaccines
and
drugs for sexually transmitted diseases to be given to New York
children
WITHOUT parental consent
* These bills remove parental rights for all New York
parents
* If a child has a drug or vaccine reaction, the parents
won't know
what is happening or how to help
* These bills apply to ALL children - there is NO age limit
* A child's has a limited capacity to understand
pharmaceutical drug
and vaccine risks and identify side effects they may experience
* Unknown vaccine administrators don't know the child's
medical
history, vaccine contraindications, allergies, and past vaccine
reactions
* Children unknowingly are giving up their legal rights when
asking
for a vaccine because Federal
QUESTIONS?
contact Lisa Rudley, Heather Walker, and John Gilmore for additional
instructions on what can be done:
Lisa Rudley
Gary Krasner, Director
Coalition For Informed Choice
188-34 87th Drive, Suite 4B
Holliswood, NY 11423
718-479-2939
CFIC@nyct.net
www.CFIC.us
NOTE -- Please use
carries file attachments totaling over 2 MB.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over
public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled" . . . Richard P.
Feynman
DISCLAIMER:
I'm neither a lawyer nor medical physician. It should not be
construed from any materials I distribute that I'm dispensing legal or
medical advice.
List members noted in Green text.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted (© ) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.
The information herein shall not be considered an endorsement of anyone discontinuing psychiatric drugs. If you are stopping taking medication IT IS ADVISABLE TO REDUCE DOSES GRADUALLY WITH EXTREME CAUTION, as it is difficult to predict who will have problems withdrawing. It is worth getting as much information and support as you can, and involving your doctor wherever possible. You will find withdrawal information here: http://theicarusproject.net/
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WITHDRAWAL:: Get Peter Lehmann's book, Coming off Psychiatric Drugs: Successful Withdrawal from Neuroleptics, Antidepressants, Lithium, Carbamazepine and Tranquilizers. This valuable resource comes in US, UK, Greek. and German editions.
PsychRights' Medicaid Fraud Initiative Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children & Youth
PsychRights®
Law Project for
Psychiatric Rights
PsychRights' Medicaid Fraud Initiative Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children & Youth
Model Medicaid Fraud Complaint
United States ex rel Law Project for Psychiatric Rights v. Matsutani, et al.
Summary Analysis
Medicaid
False Claims Act
Model Qui Tam Complaint
Links
Utah Attorney General Correspondence
February 24, 2010 Webinar on PsychRights' Medicaid Fraud Initiative Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children & Youth
Summary
The massive psychiatric drugging of America's children, particularly poor, disadvantaged children & youth through Medicaid and in foster care is an unfolding public health catastrophe of massive proportions. This catastrophe is being caused by the fraudulent promotion of these harmful practices by pharmaceutical companies sacrificing children and youth's health, futures and lives on the altar of corporate profits. In 2009, Eli Lilly agreed to pay $1.4 Billion in criminal and civil penalties for such off-label promotion of Zyprexa and Pfizer agreed to pay $2.3 Billion for the illegal off-label promotion of Geodon and other drugs, yet the practice has not stopped. It is merely a cost of doing business to these pharmaceutical Goliaths and, in fact, caps their liability for these crimes. Most importantly, these settlements have not stopped the practice of child psychiatrists and other prescribers giving these drugs to children and youth and Medicaid continuing to pay for these fraudulent claims.
PsychRights' Medicaid Fraud Initiative Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children & Youth is designed to address this problem by having lawsuits brought against the doctors prescribing these harmful, ineffective drugs, their employers, and the pharmacies filling these prescriptions and submitting them to Medicaid for reimbursement. Once one sues over specific offending prescriptions, all of such prescriptions can be brought in, which means that any psychiatrist on the losing end of such a lawsuit will almost certainly be bankrupted, because each offending prescription carries a penalty of between $5,500 and $11,000. This is why it is expected that once this financial exposure becomes known to the prescribers they will quit the practice. Each prescriber may have a million dollars or few, at most, to lose, but the pharmacies' financial exposure can run into the hundreds of millions of dollars and it is hoped this will attract attorneys to take these cases. Anyone with knowledge of specific offending prescriptions can sue on behalf of the government to recover for such Medicaid Fraud, and receive a percentage of the recovery, if any.
Of course, it can be expected that the defendants will vigorously contest everything, and there are no guarantees of success. However, PsychRights believes what is presented here is accurate. PsychRights has published a PowerPoint Presentation that goes through the requirements and identifies the major issues.
The Model Qui Tam Complaint PsychRights has put together is set up for former foster youth to sue the doctors who prescribed the drugs to them, their employers, and the pharmacy(ies) submitting the false claims, but it can be easily modified for anyone else to file such a complaint, such as parents, teachers, therapists, etc. PsychRights stands ready to to help people interested in bringing such suits and interested people can e-mail us, or call at (907) 274-7686, or write to 406 G Street, Suite 206, Anchorage, AK 99501.
Analysis
Medicaid
In 42 USC 1396R-8(k)(3), as relevant here, Congress prohibited reimbursement under Medicaid for any outpatient drugs "used for a medical indication which is not a medically accepted indication." 42 USC 1396R-8(k)(6) then defines "medically accepted indication" as follows:
The term “medically accepted indication” means any use for a covered outpatient drug which is approved under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act [21 U.S.C.A. § 301 et seq.], or the use of which is supported by one or more citations included or approved for inclusion in any of the compendia described in subsection (g)(1)(B)(i) of this section.
42 USC 1396R-8(g)(1)(B)(i), in turn, designates the Compendia as:
(I) American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information;
(II) United States Pharmacopeia-Drug Information (or its successor publications); and
(III) the DRUGDEX Information System
An indication not approved by the FDA is often referred to as "off-label." Congress didn't prohibit reimbursement by Medicaid for all off-label prescriptions, but specifically limited reimbursement for off-label prescriptions to those that have sufficient scientific "support," as documented in one of the Compendia. A couple of illustrations: Geodon is not (yet) approved for any use in children and not supported by any citation in any of the Compendia. Thus, any Geodon prescriptions to children and youth submitted to Medicaid constitute fraud. Similarly, I have seen neuroleptics such as Abilify, Risperdal, Seroquel, & Zyprexa, prescribed for "Oppositional Defiant Disorder," and even for sleep. Such prescriptions are not for "medically accepted indications," and thus automatically constitute Medicaid Fraud.
There are a a lot of technical requirements that must be met, such as the lawsuit must be based on "non-public" information, which in this case is satisfied by having knowledge of offending prescriptions and the cases must initially be filed under seal (in secret).
False Claims Act
Under the False Claims Act:
It is a False Claim to knowingly (A) present, or cause to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval, or (B) make, use, or cause to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim to the Federal Government. 31 USC §3729(a)(1)
"Knowingly" is defined as (i) actual knowledge; (ii) deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity; or (iii) reckless disregard of the truth or falsity, and no proof of intent to defraud is required. 31 U.S.C. §3729(b)(1)(a)
Every Medicaid provider is presumed to know what Medicaid's billing and coverage policies require. Heckler v. Community Health Services, 467 U.S. 51, 63-64 (1984).
Claims of ignorance are an untenable bases for the doctor's failure to live up to his duty to familiarize himself with the Medicaid requirements and observe his legal duty to submit truthful claims. United States v. Nazon, 940 F.2d 255, 259 (7th Cir. 1991).
"The applicant for public funds has a duty to read the regulations or be otherwise informed of the basic requirements of eligibility." Coop. Grain, 476 F.2d at 55-60.
Links
United States ex rel Law Project for Psychiatric Rights v. Matsutani, et al.
PowerPoint Presentation: PsychRights' Medicaid Fraud Initiative Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children & Youth.
Medically Accepted Indications Chart
CriticalThinkRx Curriculum
Report on Mental Health Services and Foster Care, by Facing Foster Care in Alaska.
PsychRights Launches Campaign Against Medicaid Fraud With Model Lawsuit, July 27, 2009.
Model Qui Tam Complaint
Microsoft Word Version
Massive Medicaid Fraud Exposed: PsychRights Calls on Members of Congress for Assistance, May 5, 2009.
Letter to Senator Charles Grassly
Letter to Senator Herb Kohl
Letter to Congressman Henry Waxman
Letter to Congressman Bart Stupak
Letter to Congressman John Dingell
Letter to Congressman Barney Frank
Utah Attorney General's Office Correspondence
October 22, 2007, letter from Utah Assistant Attorney General David Stallard to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Medicaid)
December 6, 2007, response from Medicaid to Utah Assistant Attorney General David Stallard
December 17, 2007, follow-up letter from Utah Assistant Attorney General David Stallard to Medicaid
January 30, response from Medicaid to Utah Assistant Attorney General David Stallard
http://psychrights.org/Education/ModelQuiTam/ModelQuiTam.htm
Law Project for
Psychiatric Rights
PsychRights' Medicaid Fraud Initiative Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children & Youth
Model Medicaid Fraud Complaint
United States ex rel Law Project for Psychiatric Rights v. Matsutani, et al.
Summary Analysis
Medicaid
False Claims Act
Model Qui Tam Complaint
Links
Utah Attorney General Correspondence
February 24, 2010 Webinar on PsychRights' Medicaid Fraud Initiative Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children & Youth
Summary
The massive psychiatric drugging of America's children, particularly poor, disadvantaged children & youth through Medicaid and in foster care is an unfolding public health catastrophe of massive proportions. This catastrophe is being caused by the fraudulent promotion of these harmful practices by pharmaceutical companies sacrificing children and youth's health, futures and lives on the altar of corporate profits. In 2009, Eli Lilly agreed to pay $1.4 Billion in criminal and civil penalties for such off-label promotion of Zyprexa and Pfizer agreed to pay $2.3 Billion for the illegal off-label promotion of Geodon and other drugs, yet the practice has not stopped. It is merely a cost of doing business to these pharmaceutical Goliaths and, in fact, caps their liability for these crimes. Most importantly, these settlements have not stopped the practice of child psychiatrists and other prescribers giving these drugs to children and youth and Medicaid continuing to pay for these fraudulent claims.
PsychRights' Medicaid Fraud Initiative Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children & Youth is designed to address this problem by having lawsuits brought against the doctors prescribing these harmful, ineffective drugs, their employers, and the pharmacies filling these prescriptions and submitting them to Medicaid for reimbursement. Once one sues over specific offending prescriptions, all of such prescriptions can be brought in, which means that any psychiatrist on the losing end of such a lawsuit will almost certainly be bankrupted, because each offending prescription carries a penalty of between $5,500 and $11,000. This is why it is expected that once this financial exposure becomes known to the prescribers they will quit the practice. Each prescriber may have a million dollars or few, at most, to lose, but the pharmacies' financial exposure can run into the hundreds of millions of dollars and it is hoped this will attract attorneys to take these cases. Anyone with knowledge of specific offending prescriptions can sue on behalf of the government to recover for such Medicaid Fraud, and receive a percentage of the recovery, if any.
Of course, it can be expected that the defendants will vigorously contest everything, and there are no guarantees of success. However, PsychRights believes what is presented here is accurate. PsychRights has published a PowerPoint Presentation that goes through the requirements and identifies the major issues.
The Model Qui Tam Complaint PsychRights has put together is set up for former foster youth to sue the doctors who prescribed the drugs to them, their employers, and the pharmacy(ies) submitting the false claims, but it can be easily modified for anyone else to file such a complaint, such as parents, teachers, therapists, etc. PsychRights stands ready to to help people interested in bringing such suits and interested people can e-mail us, or call at (907) 274-7686, or write to 406 G Street, Suite 206, Anchorage, AK 99501.
Analysis
Medicaid
In 42 USC 1396R-8(k)(3), as relevant here, Congress prohibited reimbursement under Medicaid for any outpatient drugs "used for a medical indication which is not a medically accepted indication." 42 USC 1396R-8(k)(6) then defines "medically accepted indication" as follows:
The term “medically accepted indication” means any use for a covered outpatient drug which is approved under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act [21 U.S.C.A. § 301 et seq.], or the use of which is supported by one or more citations included or approved for inclusion in any of the compendia described in subsection (g)(1)(B)(i) of this section.
42 USC 1396R-8(g)(1)(B)(i), in turn, designates the Compendia as:
(I) American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information;
(II) United States Pharmacopeia-Drug Information (or its successor publications); and
(III) the DRUGDEX Information System
An indication not approved by the FDA is often referred to as "off-label." Congress didn't prohibit reimbursement by Medicaid for all off-label prescriptions, but specifically limited reimbursement for off-label prescriptions to those that have sufficient scientific "support," as documented in one of the Compendia. A couple of illustrations: Geodon is not (yet) approved for any use in children and not supported by any citation in any of the Compendia. Thus, any Geodon prescriptions to children and youth submitted to Medicaid constitute fraud. Similarly, I have seen neuroleptics such as Abilify, Risperdal, Seroquel, & Zyprexa, prescribed for "Oppositional Defiant Disorder," and even for sleep. Such prescriptions are not for "medically accepted indications," and thus automatically constitute Medicaid Fraud.
There are a a lot of technical requirements that must be met, such as the lawsuit must be based on "non-public" information, which in this case is satisfied by having knowledge of offending prescriptions and the cases must initially be filed under seal (in secret).
False Claims Act
Under the False Claims Act:
It is a False Claim to knowingly (A) present, or cause to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval, or (B) make, use, or cause to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim to the Federal Government. 31 USC §3729(a)(1)
"Knowingly" is defined as (i) actual knowledge; (ii) deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity; or (iii) reckless disregard of the truth or falsity, and no proof of intent to defraud is required. 31 U.S.C. §3729(b)(1)(a)
Every Medicaid provider is presumed to know what Medicaid's billing and coverage policies require. Heckler v. Community Health Services, 467 U.S. 51, 63-64 (1984).
Claims of ignorance are an untenable bases for the doctor's failure to live up to his duty to familiarize himself with the Medicaid requirements and observe his legal duty to submit truthful claims. United States v. Nazon, 940 F.2d 255, 259 (7th Cir. 1991).
"The applicant for public funds has a duty to read the regulations or be otherwise informed of the basic requirements of eligibility." Coop. Grain, 476 F.2d at 55-60.
Links
United States ex rel Law Project for Psychiatric Rights v. Matsutani, et al.
PowerPoint Presentation: PsychRights' Medicaid Fraud Initiative Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children & Youth.
Medically Accepted Indications Chart
CriticalThinkRx Curriculum
Report on Mental Health Services and Foster Care, by Facing Foster Care in Alaska.
PsychRights Launches Campaign Against Medicaid Fraud With Model Lawsuit, July 27, 2009.
Model Qui Tam Complaint
Microsoft Word Version
Massive Medicaid Fraud Exposed: PsychRights Calls on Members of Congress for Assistance, May 5, 2009.
Letter to Senator Charles Grassly
Letter to Senator Herb Kohl
Letter to Congressman Henry Waxman
Letter to Congressman Bart Stupak
Letter to Congressman John Dingell
Letter to Congressman Barney Frank
Utah Attorney General's Office Correspondence
October 22, 2007, letter from Utah Assistant Attorney General David Stallard to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Medicaid)
December 6, 2007, response from Medicaid to Utah Assistant Attorney General David Stallard
December 17, 2007, follow-up letter from Utah Assistant Attorney General David Stallard to Medicaid
January 30, response from Medicaid to Utah Assistant Attorney General David Stallard
http://psychrights.org/Education/ModelQuiTam/ModelQuiTam.htm
Revision to the bible of psychiatry, DSM, could introduce new mental disorders
Revision to the bible of psychiatry, DSM, could introduce new mental disorders
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Children who throw too many tantrums could be diagnosed with "temper dysregulation with dysphoria." Teenagers who are particularly eccentric might be candidates for treatment for "psychosis risk syndrome." Men who are just way too interested in sex face being labeled as suffering from "hypersexual disorder."
These are among dozens of proposals being unveiled Wednesday by the American Psychiatric Association in the first complete revision since 1994 of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or "DSM" -- the massive tome that has served as the bible for modern psychiatry for more than half a century.
The product of more than a decade of work by hundreds of experts, the proposed revisions are designed to bring the best scientific evidence to bear on psychiatric diagnoses and could have far-reaching implications, including determining who gets diagnosed as mentally ill, who should get powerful psychotropic drugs, and whether and how much insurance companies will pay for care.
"It not only determines how mental disorders are diagnosed, it can impact how people see themselves and how we see each other," said Alan Schatzberg, the association's president. "It influences how research is conducted as well as what is researched. . . . It affects legal matters, industry and government programs."
The proposals will be debated in an intense process over the next two years, with potentially billions of dollars at stake for pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, government health plans, doctors, researchers and patient advocacy groups.
But perhaps more important, the outcome will help shape which emotions, behaviors, thoughts and personality traits society considers part of the natural spectrum of the human persona and which are considered pathological, requiring treatment and possibly even criminal punishment.
Even before being made public, the proposed changes have been the subject of sometimes bitter debate over whether the process was based on solid scientific evidence and was adequately shielded from influence by the pharmaceutical industry, and whether some critics were driven by financial interests in maintaining the old diagnostic criteria.
Supporters argue that the revisions would make diagnoses more accurate, creating more useful and precise definitions and sometimes reducing the number of psychiatric labels. For example, "autistic disorder" and "Asperger's disorder" would be replaced with a new, single category called "autism spectrum disorders." Critics, however, fear the new diagnoses could unnecessarily stigmatize many people and lead to the unnecessary use of psychiatric medications that can sometimes produce serious side effects.
"By massively pathologizing people under these categories, you tend to put them on an automatic path to medication, even if they are experiencing normal distress," said Jerome C. Wakefield, a professor of social work and psychiatry at New York University.
After being posted on the Internet, which of the proposed changes become final will be determined by a public comment period that will last until April 20, studies to validate some of the changes, further review, and votes by the association's Board of Trustees and Assembly. A final version is expected to be released by May 2013.
"We're mindful of the concern that we don't want to overdiagnose," Schatzberg told reporters during a telephone briefing Tuesday. "We want to, in fact, get an accurate assessment of what the degree of psychopathology might be in the culture."
Among the concerns are proposals to create "risk syndromes" in the hopes that early diagnosis and treatment will stave off the full-blown conditions. For example, the proposals would create a "psychosis risk syndrome" for people who have mild symptoms found in psychotic disorders, such as "excessive suspicion, delusions and disorganized speech or behavior."
"There will be adolescents who are a little odd and have funny ideas, and this will label them as pre-psychotic," said Robert Spitzer, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, who has been one of the most vocal critics of the DSM revision process.
Similarly, a proposal to create a new condition for people at risk for dementia could cause unnecessary anxiety, treatment and other harms, critics said.
"These people will never get long-term-care insurance if they have that on their chart," said Michael B. First, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University.
William Carpenter of the University of Maryland, who chaired the working group that made the risk syndrome recommendation, acknowledged those concerns but said that experts decided that the potential benefits of early intervention warranted the move.
Others expressed concern about the proposals to create new conditions such as "temper dysregulation with dysphoria," or TDD. Supporters say it is intended to counter a huge increase in the number children being treated for bipolar disorder by creating a more specific diagnosis, though critics argued that it would only compound the problem of overtreatment.
"They are close to treating the children like guinea pigs. I think that's appalling and outrageous," said Christopher Lane, author of "Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness." "The APA should be moving to prevent such controversial practices, not encouraging them, as it is doing here."
In addition to classifying the symptoms of grief that many people experience after the death of a loved one as "depression," the proposals include adding "binge eating" and "gambling addiction" as bona fide psychiatric conditions; they also raise the possibility of making "Internet addiction" a future diagnosis. Some critics questioned the proposal to create a "hypersexual disorder."
"How many people with just healthy sex drives will be given that label?" First said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/10/AR2010021000009.html
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Children who throw too many tantrums could be diagnosed with "temper dysregulation with dysphoria." Teenagers who are particularly eccentric might be candidates for treatment for "psychosis risk syndrome." Men who are just way too interested in sex face being labeled as suffering from "hypersexual disorder."
These are among dozens of proposals being unveiled Wednesday by the American Psychiatric Association in the first complete revision since 1994 of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or "DSM" -- the massive tome that has served as the bible for modern psychiatry for more than half a century.
The product of more than a decade of work by hundreds of experts, the proposed revisions are designed to bring the best scientific evidence to bear on psychiatric diagnoses and could have far-reaching implications, including determining who gets diagnosed as mentally ill, who should get powerful psychotropic drugs, and whether and how much insurance companies will pay for care.
"It not only determines how mental disorders are diagnosed, it can impact how people see themselves and how we see each other," said Alan Schatzberg, the association's president. "It influences how research is conducted as well as what is researched. . . . It affects legal matters, industry and government programs."
The proposals will be debated in an intense process over the next two years, with potentially billions of dollars at stake for pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, government health plans, doctors, researchers and patient advocacy groups.
But perhaps more important, the outcome will help shape which emotions, behaviors, thoughts and personality traits society considers part of the natural spectrum of the human persona and which are considered pathological, requiring treatment and possibly even criminal punishment.
Even before being made public, the proposed changes have been the subject of sometimes bitter debate over whether the process was based on solid scientific evidence and was adequately shielded from influence by the pharmaceutical industry, and whether some critics were driven by financial interests in maintaining the old diagnostic criteria.
Supporters argue that the revisions would make diagnoses more accurate, creating more useful and precise definitions and sometimes reducing the number of psychiatric labels. For example, "autistic disorder" and "Asperger's disorder" would be replaced with a new, single category called "autism spectrum disorders." Critics, however, fear the new diagnoses could unnecessarily stigmatize many people and lead to the unnecessary use of psychiatric medications that can sometimes produce serious side effects.
"By massively pathologizing people under these categories, you tend to put them on an automatic path to medication, even if they are experiencing normal distress," said Jerome C. Wakefield, a professor of social work and psychiatry at New York University.
After being posted on the Internet, which of the proposed changes become final will be determined by a public comment period that will last until April 20, studies to validate some of the changes, further review, and votes by the association's Board of Trustees and Assembly. A final version is expected to be released by May 2013.
"We're mindful of the concern that we don't want to overdiagnose," Schatzberg told reporters during a telephone briefing Tuesday. "We want to, in fact, get an accurate assessment of what the degree of psychopathology might be in the culture."
Among the concerns are proposals to create "risk syndromes" in the hopes that early diagnosis and treatment will stave off the full-blown conditions. For example, the proposals would create a "psychosis risk syndrome" for people who have mild symptoms found in psychotic disorders, such as "excessive suspicion, delusions and disorganized speech or behavior."
"There will be adolescents who are a little odd and have funny ideas, and this will label them as pre-psychotic," said Robert Spitzer, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, who has been one of the most vocal critics of the DSM revision process.
Similarly, a proposal to create a new condition for people at risk for dementia could cause unnecessary anxiety, treatment and other harms, critics said.
"These people will never get long-term-care insurance if they have that on their chart," said Michael B. First, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University.
William Carpenter of the University of Maryland, who chaired the working group that made the risk syndrome recommendation, acknowledged those concerns but said that experts decided that the potential benefits of early intervention warranted the move.
Others expressed concern about the proposals to create new conditions such as "temper dysregulation with dysphoria," or TDD. Supporters say it is intended to counter a huge increase in the number children being treated for bipolar disorder by creating a more specific diagnosis, though critics argued that it would only compound the problem of overtreatment.
"They are close to treating the children like guinea pigs. I think that's appalling and outrageous," said Christopher Lane, author of "Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness." "The APA should be moving to prevent such controversial practices, not encouraging them, as it is doing here."
In addition to classifying the symptoms of grief that many people experience after the death of a loved one as "depression," the proposals include adding "binge eating" and "gambling addiction" as bona fide psychiatric conditions; they also raise the possibility of making "Internet addiction" a future diagnosis. Some critics questioned the proposal to create a "hypersexual disorder."
"How many people with just healthy sex drives will be given that label?" First said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/10/AR2010021000009.html
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
MULTIPLE TRANSITIONS: A YOUNG CHILD'S POINT OF VIEW ON FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION
How a child sees what they do to them in foster care. Very emotional to read. This is how my grandson and so many other precious children feel. Wake up DCYF!
1 MULTIPLE TRANSITIONS:
A YOUNG CHILD'S POINT OF VIEW ON FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION I want to talk to you about what it feels like getting ready to be adopted, when you are a little kid who has already had about a hundred mothers. When you can barely remember what your first mother smelled like. When everyone spoke a different language in the place where you were born than in the place you are now. When some of the people who took care of you were called "foster parents" and you didn't know what that meant except something about they weren't going to stick around. When, in the process of being moved all over the place, you lost some of your brothers and your sisters and a particular pair of shoes that felt just right and your absolutely most favorite cuddly, and a certain place on the inside of your last crib where you used to scratch with your fingernail to help yourself go to sleep.Kids like me, see, don't have families of our own. Because there's something wrong about us. (I guess) Or because there aren't enough to go around. Or something. And I probably won't get one, either. Or if I do, will it be too late for me to believe that they love me, and are going to stay with me? So I want to talk to you, Big People, about these things, even though I am not sure you are real interested. Are you the same Big People who keep doing these things to me in the first place? (Please don't get offended if I talk to all of you at once: caseworkers, foster parents, judges, adoptive parents. I just need to say how it all feels to me, and sometimes I can't get the cast of characters straight.)Some people say that my first parents shook me until my eyeballs got loosened up, or they left me alone, or they gave me away, or they just ran away. I guess you think, because of that, I am supposed to not miss them? (Because if I did it would sure make me lots more cooperative with all the plans you keep making for me.) Should I just say, "They did the best they could" so I am not so ticked off and lonely and worried all the time about what the Big People are going to do next? The truth is, I can't do any of these things: I can't forget. (Even when my brain does, my body won't.) I can't stop myself from yearning (even though later I will get quite good at playing games about this).I'm not saying I was some cherished treasure or anything in my family. But what were you thinking when you sent big men in uniforms to grab me out of my screaming father's arms at eleven o'clock at night, scaring me to death? Or when you sent me to a foster home without telling them about the special ways I needed to be handled because I had never stayed anywhere long enough to get attached to anybody? Or when you then took me from those people who were so disappointed in me after a few weeks that they said I would have to be "disrupted" (whatever that means).So you sent me to a family with an older foster child who was mean to little kids because they were weak and small. And so he punched me a lot in secret. And pulled real hard on my penis in the middle of the night. And when that family got rid of me, and the next, and the next, did you think I was going to take it all lying down? Did you think I was supposed to just be sweet and adorable and ready to connect to yet another family who were going to throw me away? (Could you have done that?) After a while, I had just lost too many people that I might have cared about. I had been with too many "parents" who really weren't, because they couldn't hold me tightly in their hearts at all.None of you got how I was being changed by all these losses, (in my heart and in my behavior). After a while, I began to get some pretty bad ideas about how things work. And mostly those ideas said that I was, by that time, in deep doo-doo. I wasn't going to let anybody like me. Not even me. And so, now, I won't let you imagine even for a minute that I like you. That I need you, desperately. That I might ever grow to trust you. I am not, after all, a complete moron. Are you ready to have me not believe you? Are you ready for me to fight you for control? Are you ready to hold me, and then hold me some more (when all the time I act like I don't want you to at all?) Are you ready to really stay with me, through a battle that might last almost my whole growing up? Are you willing to feel as powerless as I do?What will you think when I say I don't care a bit whether you go on vacation and leave me with Aunt Harriet, who I hardly know at all? Then, when you come back, are you ready to deal with me taking a dump in front of your bedroom door every single day for three whole weeks? You see, it is like this, Big People: I'm not stupid. I was not blind. I do pay attention, because it matters lots to me. And so when my first parents knocked me around or acted like I was invisible, or gave me to someone else to raise, or stood there screaming while you took me away from them, I noticed. And when no one came to take their place, I noticed that too.And when the orphanage didn't last, and the first half-dozen foster families didn't last, something started happening to me. A little bit of my spirit started to die. For some reason, then, I started pulling out my eyebrows. (I'm not sure what that has to do with my spirit dying.) I agree that it doesn't make much sense for me to join in with all the other people that have hurt me, by hurting myself. But I do it anyway. So I bite on my hand, or dig at my face, or make a real bad sore on the top of my head from scratching myself. I pull out clumps of my hair, and so the kids at preschool laugh, and Big People have an odd look on their faces when they see me. I masturbate a lot to comfort myself. They say that sometimes I try to touch other kids down there.Sometimes I run into the arms of strangers, like I have know them forever, and like I don't actually care anymore who I am safe with or not. (Am I safe with anybody? Does it matter any more?) Did I mention how much I am growing to hate smallness, and weakness and defenselessness? It's getting so the only thing I know how to do is to just be as tough as I can, and to try to rub out smallness and weakness wherever I see them: In the kittens that get hung by the clothesline in the backyard and squished with a tennis racquet. In the babies in my recent foster homes who turned up scratched. In my own Self, which I attack, particularly when I am feeling small or scared, and I need to beat myself into more toughness.And as little parts of my spirit keep dying, will it surprise you that I'm not exactly going to be overjoyed when you finally say you have permanent parents for me? Do you honestly think I am going to say, "Oh, I get it. You were just kidding all those other times, but this time you really mean it"? And, so, do you want to hear something funny? Just about the time I am ready to get what everybody thought I needed (parents who are actually never going to leave me) I'm going to get just a tad weird. I'm going to start banging my head more than I did before. I might start acting like a baby again and, even if I had gotten a little bit comfortable with my latest "parents" I'm going to go back to stiffening my body, and screaming at night, and doing everything I can to tell you that I don't want you to love me. I can't stand all this talk about "permanence" and "adoption". I will make you sorry you ever thought about trying to get close to me. I will make you feel almost as helpless and small as I have usually felt. So are you wondering what I need? Are you wondering what I would do about all of this if I had the power? First of all, it would help a lot if you would start with one simple, clear commandment to yourself: Never forget that I am watching. Never forget that every single thing you do matters immensely to me, (even when I work like crazy to make you think that it does not). And I will remember. You may be able to get away with treating me as if I am invisible for a while (perhaps long enough to "disrupt" me or move yourself to a different casework job). I was there, watching, I was having deep feelings about what was happening to me and I needed someone to act as if it mattered, hugely.Second, don't imagine that I will ever stop yearning for my birth family (even though, as in other things, I will pretend otherwise). Help me find some way to keep a connection with them, even if I never see them again. Bring out pictures, or a Life Book and hold me while I rage or sob or stare, or all of these at once. And understand that none of this is a reflection on you. Don't be surprised when I come back from a visit with them peeing my pants or throwing tantrums in the bath that night. I told you: things matter to me. So I am going to have feelings about things that matter to me.Third, it would help a lot if you would make the decisions that you need to make and stick with them. Some days I think my mind is going to explode because I know something is going on in my life but I can't tell what it is; later I'll learn that there was a court hearing that day and everybody in my life was wrought up and then it was "continued" (whatever that means - except mostly that nothing is getting decided, and I still don't have a family). I don't get to make the decisions. You do. So have the courage to make them. So that I can get a life. Fourth, it would mean a lot to me if you would take good care of my foster family. They have their hands full. Sometimes they don't know what to do with me. So make sure someone is there to answer their questions, to encourage them, to help them understand me better. You won't like what will happen if I keep getting disrupted, and the only way I can think of to prevent that is to take extra good care of the people that are taking care of me.So have I told you anything that you wanted to know? Have I helped you to understand how we feel - all of us kids who fell into the world of foster care and adoption? I know it is a burden for you to think so carefully about me, and I know you might get a little nervous to realize that I am watching, and affected by all that you do. But you won't be sorry if you take me seriously. Someday, see, I will be Big People.
GIVE THAT A THOUGHT.
Unknown Author
1 MULTIPLE TRANSITIONS:
A YOUNG CHILD'S POINT OF VIEW ON FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION I want to talk to you about what it feels like getting ready to be adopted, when you are a little kid who has already had about a hundred mothers. When you can barely remember what your first mother smelled like. When everyone spoke a different language in the place where you were born than in the place you are now. When some of the people who took care of you were called "foster parents" and you didn't know what that meant except something about they weren't going to stick around. When, in the process of being moved all over the place, you lost some of your brothers and your sisters and a particular pair of shoes that felt just right and your absolutely most favorite cuddly, and a certain place on the inside of your last crib where you used to scratch with your fingernail to help yourself go to sleep.Kids like me, see, don't have families of our own. Because there's something wrong about us. (I guess) Or because there aren't enough to go around. Or something. And I probably won't get one, either. Or if I do, will it be too late for me to believe that they love me, and are going to stay with me? So I want to talk to you, Big People, about these things, even though I am not sure you are real interested. Are you the same Big People who keep doing these things to me in the first place? (Please don't get offended if I talk to all of you at once: caseworkers, foster parents, judges, adoptive parents. I just need to say how it all feels to me, and sometimes I can't get the cast of characters straight.)Some people say that my first parents shook me until my eyeballs got loosened up, or they left me alone, or they gave me away, or they just ran away. I guess you think, because of that, I am supposed to not miss them? (Because if I did it would sure make me lots more cooperative with all the plans you keep making for me.) Should I just say, "They did the best they could" so I am not so ticked off and lonely and worried all the time about what the Big People are going to do next? The truth is, I can't do any of these things: I can't forget. (Even when my brain does, my body won't.) I can't stop myself from yearning (even though later I will get quite good at playing games about this).I'm not saying I was some cherished treasure or anything in my family. But what were you thinking when you sent big men in uniforms to grab me out of my screaming father's arms at eleven o'clock at night, scaring me to death? Or when you sent me to a foster home without telling them about the special ways I needed to be handled because I had never stayed anywhere long enough to get attached to anybody? Or when you then took me from those people who were so disappointed in me after a few weeks that they said I would have to be "disrupted" (whatever that means).So you sent me to a family with an older foster child who was mean to little kids because they were weak and small. And so he punched me a lot in secret. And pulled real hard on my penis in the middle of the night. And when that family got rid of me, and the next, and the next, did you think I was going to take it all lying down? Did you think I was supposed to just be sweet and adorable and ready to connect to yet another family who were going to throw me away? (Could you have done that?) After a while, I had just lost too many people that I might have cared about. I had been with too many "parents" who really weren't, because they couldn't hold me tightly in their hearts at all.None of you got how I was being changed by all these losses, (in my heart and in my behavior). After a while, I began to get some pretty bad ideas about how things work. And mostly those ideas said that I was, by that time, in deep doo-doo. I wasn't going to let anybody like me. Not even me. And so, now, I won't let you imagine even for a minute that I like you. That I need you, desperately. That I might ever grow to trust you. I am not, after all, a complete moron. Are you ready to have me not believe you? Are you ready for me to fight you for control? Are you ready to hold me, and then hold me some more (when all the time I act like I don't want you to at all?) Are you ready to really stay with me, through a battle that might last almost my whole growing up? Are you willing to feel as powerless as I do?What will you think when I say I don't care a bit whether you go on vacation and leave me with Aunt Harriet, who I hardly know at all? Then, when you come back, are you ready to deal with me taking a dump in front of your bedroom door every single day for three whole weeks? You see, it is like this, Big People: I'm not stupid. I was not blind. I do pay attention, because it matters lots to me. And so when my first parents knocked me around or acted like I was invisible, or gave me to someone else to raise, or stood there screaming while you took me away from them, I noticed. And when no one came to take their place, I noticed that too.And when the orphanage didn't last, and the first half-dozen foster families didn't last, something started happening to me. A little bit of my spirit started to die. For some reason, then, I started pulling out my eyebrows. (I'm not sure what that has to do with my spirit dying.) I agree that it doesn't make much sense for me to join in with all the other people that have hurt me, by hurting myself. But I do it anyway. So I bite on my hand, or dig at my face, or make a real bad sore on the top of my head from scratching myself. I pull out clumps of my hair, and so the kids at preschool laugh, and Big People have an odd look on their faces when they see me. I masturbate a lot to comfort myself. They say that sometimes I try to touch other kids down there.Sometimes I run into the arms of strangers, like I have know them forever, and like I don't actually care anymore who I am safe with or not. (Am I safe with anybody? Does it matter any more?) Did I mention how much I am growing to hate smallness, and weakness and defenselessness? It's getting so the only thing I know how to do is to just be as tough as I can, and to try to rub out smallness and weakness wherever I see them: In the kittens that get hung by the clothesline in the backyard and squished with a tennis racquet. In the babies in my recent foster homes who turned up scratched. In my own Self, which I attack, particularly when I am feeling small or scared, and I need to beat myself into more toughness.And as little parts of my spirit keep dying, will it surprise you that I'm not exactly going to be overjoyed when you finally say you have permanent parents for me? Do you honestly think I am going to say, "Oh, I get it. You were just kidding all those other times, but this time you really mean it"? And, so, do you want to hear something funny? Just about the time I am ready to get what everybody thought I needed (parents who are actually never going to leave me) I'm going to get just a tad weird. I'm going to start banging my head more than I did before. I might start acting like a baby again and, even if I had gotten a little bit comfortable with my latest "parents" I'm going to go back to stiffening my body, and screaming at night, and doing everything I can to tell you that I don't want you to love me. I can't stand all this talk about "permanence" and "adoption". I will make you sorry you ever thought about trying to get close to me. I will make you feel almost as helpless and small as I have usually felt. So are you wondering what I need? Are you wondering what I would do about all of this if I had the power? First of all, it would help a lot if you would start with one simple, clear commandment to yourself: Never forget that I am watching. Never forget that every single thing you do matters immensely to me, (even when I work like crazy to make you think that it does not). And I will remember. You may be able to get away with treating me as if I am invisible for a while (perhaps long enough to "disrupt" me or move yourself to a different casework job). I was there, watching, I was having deep feelings about what was happening to me and I needed someone to act as if it mattered, hugely.Second, don't imagine that I will ever stop yearning for my birth family (even though, as in other things, I will pretend otherwise). Help me find some way to keep a connection with them, even if I never see them again. Bring out pictures, or a Life Book and hold me while I rage or sob or stare, or all of these at once. And understand that none of this is a reflection on you. Don't be surprised when I come back from a visit with them peeing my pants or throwing tantrums in the bath that night. I told you: things matter to me. So I am going to have feelings about things that matter to me.Third, it would help a lot if you would make the decisions that you need to make and stick with them. Some days I think my mind is going to explode because I know something is going on in my life but I can't tell what it is; later I'll learn that there was a court hearing that day and everybody in my life was wrought up and then it was "continued" (whatever that means - except mostly that nothing is getting decided, and I still don't have a family). I don't get to make the decisions. You do. So have the courage to make them. So that I can get a life. Fourth, it would mean a lot to me if you would take good care of my foster family. They have their hands full. Sometimes they don't know what to do with me. So make sure someone is there to answer their questions, to encourage them, to help them understand me better. You won't like what will happen if I keep getting disrupted, and the only way I can think of to prevent that is to take extra good care of the people that are taking care of me.So have I told you anything that you wanted to know? Have I helped you to understand how we feel - all of us kids who fell into the world of foster care and adoption? I know it is a burden for you to think so carefully about me, and I know you might get a little nervous to realize that I am watching, and affected by all that you do. But you won't be sorry if you take me seriously. Someday, see, I will be Big People.
GIVE THAT A THOUGHT.
Unknown Author
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