Fwd: Medicated by Force

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http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0025853.html

 

May 7, 2003

 

Medicated by Force

By David Brody, Washington, D.C., correspondent

 

 

Schools that force parents to medicate their children as a condition of

attending class have the attention of Congress.

 

Some schools in the country are requiring parents to medicate their children

before they come to class. If parents refuse, their child isn't allowed to

attend. A House subcommittee in Washington held a hearing yesterday looking into

the problem.

 

The problem is getting increased attention because there seems to be an increase

in cases. Katherine Bryson is a state representative from Utah who has seen this

issue explode in the Rocky Mountain states.

 

" There was coercion felt by parents, " Bryson said. " (They) felt that if they did

not give these drugs to their children there would not be allowed in the

classroom. "

 

The crux of the issue is who should be the parent here - the parent or the

school? Dr. William Carey, who is director of behavioral pediatrics at

Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, said schools have no business diagnosing

students.

 

" There are some normal behavioral traits - stubbornness, shyness, loudness, and

so on - which are annoying, but which are not abnormal and do not deserve to be

treated with medication, " Carey said.

 

Rep. Max Burns, R-Ga., is concerned with the possibility of pupils being

misdiagnosed. What happens if a doctor diagnoses a child with Attention

Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), then gives him the medication for it, but

the child doesn't have it?

 

" For those who don't need these drugs, they can be harmful, " Burns said. " In

several sad instances, children that have been placed on these drugs have died

from complications arising from psychotropic (mind-altering) drug use. "

 

Most of the panel experts agreed that the answer is not educating teachers more

about how to determine if a child needs medication. The teachers have enough on

their hands as it is.

 

Burns has introduced a bill called the Child Medications Safety Act of 2003. It

said schools getting federal money cannot prohibit children from attending class

because they failed to take a prescription. Nineteen states have already passed

legislation protecting parents in those situations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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