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| Topic: DCF: Too many kids on mind-altering drugs | |
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TALLAHASSEE — Three times more children in state care are being given mind-altering drugs than kids in the general population, according to an audit of the Department of Children and Families.
And the state is giving the drugs to many children without the legal authority to do so, the preliminary review found. "That is unacceptable," said DCF Secretary George Sheldon, who ordered the review after the April 16 death of a 7-year-old Broward County boy in foster care. Gabriel Myers, who apparently hung himself, was on a mix of the psychotropic medicines, but none of the drugs showed up in the agency's computer database. And his file did not include a consent form for the medication from a parent or judge as required by state law. Gabriel' death exposed endemic problems within the department regarding the use of the psychotropic drugs that Sheldon pledged "to make right." For example, the department's database contained missing elements including consent orders, prescription drugs, dosages and assessment dates. So the information the review is based on is incomplete or could be inaccurate. The problems exist four years after the legislature changed the law to require the informed consent orders before children in foster care could be put on the drugs. "The good news is that the secretary is trying to get to the bottom of the problems here. The bad news is that they still don't have a handle on why three times as many children in foster care are on psychotropic medication as children in the general population," said Andrea Moore, an attorney and child advocate who first challenged the department's widespread use of the psychotropic drugs nearly a decade ago. She and others worry that the drugs are being used not as a last resort but as a chemical restraint. "I can't tell you how troubling it is to me," said Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ronda Storms, R-Brandon. "Perhaps treating children with drugs may have become the default treatment because it's easier." Sheldon said that he, too, has serious concerns about whether the drugs are being over-prescribed and has asked the auditing team to look into it. Audit results Among the findings of the Gabriel Myers Work Group: •A total of 2,669 of the 13,000 Florida children in out-of-home care, or 13.1 percent, have been prescribed one or more psychotropic medications. •Fifty nine percent of those 2,669 children on psychotropic medication are between the ages of 13 and 17 years old. •There are 73 children, or 2.75 percent, ages 5 and under who are receiving psychotropic medications. •No record of consent or judicial order was found for 16.2 percent of the 2,669 children receiving psychotropic medication. Wow, with so many children in the system, makes me wonder if this is all yet another scheme for the state and drug manufacturers, distributors, retailers to make a buck on an innocent child. 
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Edited by
quiet_2008
on
Fri 05/29/09 07:01 AM
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pharmaceutical baby sitters
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Granted there are many kids who have been diagnosed and may need medications - but these children to my understanding were neither prescribed nor have received consent yet are given drugs
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most of em are just wild and rowdy kids (they are kids!!) and its easier to medicate them than to deal with em
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most of em are just wild and rowdy kids (they are kids!!) and its easier to medicate them than to deal with em Shame when it ends up with one of them taking their own lives 
But I am with you, remember when the television sets were the babysitters of choice, now drugs - hell people should just stop having children if they are not able or willing to be responsible parents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
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Remember kids!
Just say no to drugs. ermm Well wait...unless they are drugs the doctor and mommy and daddy give you. Oh and please don't wonder about the adults around you who take meds for everything from their diet to their bed and wash it all down with caffeine and alcohol while sucking down cigarettes. I teched in a pharmacy in a small town. After awhile I started noticing that students from certain teachers classes were much more likely to be medicated. Makes me want to throw up. What happened to hands on involvement with kids? Exercise, stimulating lessons, reward and punishment, alternate teaching methods, teaching to a kids strengths...all can be much more helpful than losing a kids spirit in a medicated haze. |
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I think people have just gotten so damned lazy and irresponsible that anything that allows them to do less work is best!!!
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Chimpanzee that mauled Connecticut woman had the so-called anti-depressant drug Zanax in its system. This is the same class of drugs taken by many young shooters on campuses. Authorities cannot say that the drug is related to these rampages. Of course not. they do not want to be sued by Big Pharma. article posted below: From: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2009/05/18/100604.htm Chimp That Mauled Connecticut Woman had Xanax in System By John Christoffersen May 18, 2009 * E-mail this Article E-mail this Article * Post a comment Post Comment * Print this Article Print this Article * Article Reprints Article Reprints A chimpanzee that mauled a Connecticut woman had the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in its system, according to toxicology tests, but investigators haven't determined whether the drug played a role in the attack, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Authorities are still weighing whether to file criminal charges against the chimpanzee's owner, Sandra Herold, said Stamford State's Attorney David Cohen. The 200-pound (91-kilogram) chimp named Travis attacked Stamford resident Charla Nash on Feb. 16. She lost her hands, nose, lips and eyelids in the attack. Doctors at Ohio's Cleveland Clinic say she is blind and faces two years of surgical procedures. Nash's family has sued Herold for $50 million. The suit alleges, among other things, that she had given Travis medication that further upset the animal. "I think it provides tremendous support for the plaintiff's case,'' said Paul Slager, a catastrophic injury attorney in Stamford. "I think it's understood by everyone that Xanax is medication intended to be used by people, not animals.'' He added: "I suspect that experts will agree it's difficult to predict how an animal like a chimpanzee would respond to taking a medication like Xanax.'' Herold has made conflicting public statements about whether she gave Travis Xanax the day of the attack. Herold's attorney, Robert Golger, declined to comment Wednesday, saying he hadn't seen the toxicology results, which were first reported by The Hour of Norwalk. A telephone message left for an attorney for Nash's family wasn't immediately returned. Herold's attorneys have said there was no way to predict Travis would attack Nash. On the day of the attack, Herold called Nash to her home to help lure the animal back into her house. Herold has speculated that the chimp was trying to protect her and attacked Nash because she had changed her hairstyle, was driving a different car and was holding a stuffed toy in front of her face to get Travis' attention. The attack lasted about 12 minutes, and ended when police fatally shot Travis as he attempted to open a police cruiser's door. Herold owned the 14-year-old chimp nearly all its life, dressed the animal and fed it human foods. When he was younger, Travis starred in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola, made an appearance on the "Maury Povich Show'' and took part in a television pilot. Police Capt. Richard Conklin said a necropsy determined the chimpanzee died from multiple gun shot wounds. It also showed two substantial knife wounds to the back, confirming the owner's account that she stabbed her beloved pet with a butcher knife in an effort to rescue her friend, he said. He said police will meet with experts in the coming weeks to try to determine if the level of Xanax found would affect the chimpanzee's behavior. "It doesn't look like a large amount,'' of Xanax, Conklin said. Humans who are aggressive or unstable can get worse under the influence of Xanax, said Dr. Emil Coccaro, chief of psychiatry at the University of Chicago Medical Center. "They just have more frequent and severe outbursts,'' Coccaro said. He said he did not know how Xanax might affect a chimpanzee. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Sponsored by Astonish Results |
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