Guest guest Posted May 31, 2000 Report Share Posted May 31, 2000 Dear Herbalists, As I have long thought that there are other less severe handlings for children than turning them into drug addicts, I thought you may be interested in this. I am specifically appalled at the waste of millions of the taxpayers money on the experimental drugging of under 7 year olds. Whose children are they going to experiment on? Yours?..................Well, they certainly aren't going to give any of mine an addictive, brain damaging drug.... " to find out if it works " ...Repulsively Penny > " Patty Schwartz " <mpschwartz > " Administrator " <drugfree >Fw: Tipper and Hillary >Mon, 29 May 2000 11:13:26 -0700 > > >Tipper and Hillary > > > > > >> Friends, > >> > >> With all the press swirling around about school violence and >psychotropic > >> drugs for school children, please read this article for an > >up-to-the-minute > >> factual look at where things stand and what the facts are. > >> > >> > >> Sincerely, > >> > >> > >> Scott > >> > >> P.S. Email me if you'd like more information about this topic. > >> > >> > >> A Hill and Tip Trip > >> By Kelly Patricia O'Meara > >> > >> Insight Magazine > >> > >> This Clinton-Gore team advocates identifying schoolchildren as mentally > >ill > >> and requiring them to take psychotropic drugs to control any >inattentive > >> behavior. > >> > >> " I think that part of what we've got, though, is to reflect how we can > >> both identify and get help to children who need it, whether or not they > >want > >> it or are willing to accept it, " declared first lady and wanna-be >junior > >> senator from New York, Hillary Rodham Clinton. The first lady's >comment, > >put > >> in the context of how to deal with tragedies such as the shooting at > >> Col-umbine High School in Littleton, Colo., was delivered to a > >> standing-room-only crowd at the June 7, 1999, White House Conference on > >> Mental Health. She was directly advocating the forced drugging of > >> schoolchildren with psychotropic drugs such > >> as Ritalin. > >> > >> The first lady, however, was not alone in advocating this chilling >agenda > >> for dealing with schoolhouse behavioral problems. During the conference > >that > >> critics dubbed a cheerleading session for the pharmaceutical industry, >the > >> president's top mental-health adviser and candidate for first lady, >Tipper > >> Gore, joined in leading the psychopharmacological charge. In fact, >nodding > >> to Tipper, President Clinton told the mesmerized crowd: " She knows more > >and > >> cares more about this issue than anyone else I personally know. " > >> > >> The vice president's wife " knows more " about this issue? Beyond earning >a > >> masters' degree in psychology more than 20 years ago and having been > >treated > >> for depression, say critics, Gore's knowledge of mental illness is >limited > >> at best and misinformed at worst. For example, Gore displayed some of >her > >> knowledge on this subject during the president's weekly radio address >to > >the > >> nation just before the White House conference when she announced that > >> Americans must change their attitudes and " dispel the myths about >mental > >> illness once and for all. " She said, " One of the most widely believed, >and > >> most damaging, myths is that mental illness is a personal failure, not >a > >> physical disease ... and we are learning that many mental disorders are > >> biological in nature and can be medically treated. " > >> > >> Members of the opposing team, which include a growing number of > >> well-respected physicians who have spent their lives resisting >subjective > >> diagnoses of mental illnesses, are astonished by such pronouncements. > >They > >> tell Insight they would jump at the opportunity to present their >contrary > >> data from such a highly visible platform as the well-publicized > >Clinton-Gore > >> White House conference but were not invited to offer opposing research. > >> Instead, the spotlight was given to Steven Hyman, director of the >National > >> Institute of Mental Health, or NIMH. > >> > >> Hyman pulled a slide show out of his black bag and wowed the >star-struck > >> crowd with his evidence that, indeed, mental illness is a " real >disorder > >of > >> the brain. " To prove his point, Hyman said, " I brought a few pictures " > >> because " I think pictures are worth an awful lot. I just want to show >you > >a > >> picture that is somewhat alarming. What we see here on the left is a > >healthy > >> person with a normal brain, and then on the right, someone who has had > >> severe depression for a long time. What you see outlined in red at the > >> bottom is that a key structure acquired from memory actually gets >smaller. > >> It deteriorates if depression is not treated. " > >> > >> Apparently caught up in the frenzy of breakthrough medical " proof " of > >mental > >> illness, the audience broke into enthusiastic applause. > >> > >> Hyman's slide show was nothing if not deeply flawed, the most basic > >omission > >> being a failure to present the case history of the subject shown in the > >> slides. For instance, during Hyman's show not once did he mention >whether > >> the patient on the right, who " had severe depression " and whose slide > >showed > >> " red at the bottom " had been given psychotropic drugs for any length of > >time > >> prior to capturing the brain on film. In fact, if this were the case, > >> critics tell Insight, the right-brain slides, rather than being > >reflective > >> of a scientific breakthrough supporting the premise that the depression > >> caused the mental illness, would support arguments made by opponents >that > >> the change in the brain in fact was caused by prescribed psychotropic > >> medication. > >> > >> Harold Koplewicz, the vice-chairman of the department of psychiatry at >the > >> New York University Medical Center, an invited guest speaker at the >White > >> House conference, even went beyond the contention that mental illnesses > >are > >> brain disorders. Koplewicz said, " Essentially, these diseases are >no-fault > >> brain disorders. They are familial, they run in families and they have > >> predictable onset and course. " The doctor presented no data to support > >such > >> interesting remarks but " essentially " waived any personal >responsibility > >or > >> validation that such life experiences as mental distress or anxiousness > >> might > >> be normal. > >> > >> Since such problems are physical, and beyond personal control or >remedy, > >> Koplewicz reasons, tragedies such as what occurred in Littleton are > " most > >> probably preventable " as a matter of public health. " Normal children, " >he > >> continued, " just don't snap and go out on a shooting spree. Children >who > >> commit violent crimes almost always have histories of violence, >depression > >> or other mental-health problems. The problem is we have never really > >looked > >> at > >> the underlying cause of all this violence - which is childhood >psychiatric > >> illness. " > >> > >> So what was going on there? Apparently " looking at all the possible > >> underlying causes " of school-age violence - the announced reason for >the > >> Hillary-Tipper conference - was not on the agenda. Making a statement > >about > >> the 6 million children being " treated " for ADHD with highly addictive > >> stimulants, including Ritalin, did not fit that bill. Nor did even one >of > >> the distinguished speakers raise the issue first reported last year by > >> Insight [see " Guns & Doses, " June 28, 1999], faxed to the White House > >before > >> the conference, revealing the dramatic connection between the then five > >most > >> recent school shootings: All the accused shooters had been treated with > >> psychotropic drugs, including Ritalin, Luvox and Prozac. > >> > >> It would not be long before the New York Times, the Washington Post and > >> national weekly newsmagazines were following Insight's lead, but when >the > >> Hillary-Tipper team had the chance to recognize the problem quickly and >in > >> prime time they demurred. > >> > >> The controversy surrounding the use of psychotropic drugs on children > >began > >> after the diagnosis for ADD/ADHD was voted into the Diagnostic and > >> Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-IIIR, in 1987. The > >> prescription of Ritalin (methyl-phenidate), a highly addictive >stimulant > >> categorized as a Schedule II drug by the Drug Enforcement Agency, or >DEA, > >> skyrocketed from less than a quarter of a million in 1986 to 6 million > >> today. Certainly it is unlikely that Clinton-Gore psychiatric >spokesmen > >> Hyman and Koplewicz were unaware that Ritalin is pharmacologically >similar > >> to cocaine in its pattern of abuse, given that red flags were raised >years > >> ago by the World Health Organization, or WHO, the DEA and even the > >Archives > >> of General Psychiatry. > >> > >> Within the year since Insight began reporting on this issue, not only >are > >> many mental-health experts questioning the overuse of psychotropic >drugs > >on > >> children but also the validity of the latest Diagnostic and Statistical > >> Manual of Mental Disorders, the DSM-IV, as it continues to broaden the > >> circle of mental illness to in-clude practically every child, with the > >> implication that pharmacology offers a quick solution. For example, in >the > >> January 2000 issue of Clinical Psychiatry News, respondents were asked >to > >> evaluate the psychiatric diagnoses presented in the DSM-IV. The result >was > >> dramatic. " The DSM-IV has gone too far. There are too many diagnoses > >without > >> any objective basis or biological support, " said Houston psychiatrist > >> Theodore Pearlman. " There has never been any criterion that >psychiatric > >> diagnoses require a > >> demonstrated biological etiology, " said Harold Pincus, vice chairman of > >the > >> DSM-IV task force. > >> > >> To indicate how far from reality are the advocates of passing out pills >in > >> the schools, it is noteworthy that Hyman apparently was not even > >> communicating with his colleagues at the American Academy of >Pediatrics, > >or > >> AAP. All of the new AAP guidelines for diagnosing ADHD, like thosen >listed > >> in the DSM-IV - for example, exhibiting behaviors such as not listening > >when > >> spoken to directly, failing to follow directions, losing things, being > >> forgetful and easily distracted and fidgeting with hands or feet - are > >> subjective observations on the part of the treating physician. However, > >> after listing the new guidelines, the AAP concludes that " other >diagnostic > >> tests, sometimes considered positive indicators for ADHD, have been > >reviewed > >> and considered not effective [emphasis added]. These tests include lead > >> screening, tests for generalized resistance to thyroid hormone, and >brain > >> image studies [emphasis added]. " > >> > >> In other words, the dog-and-pony show that Hyman put on for the first >and > >> second ladies was not based in science, and the AAP is just another in >a > >> long list of experts to refute such fraudulent claims. Hyman also > >> wascontradicting his own remarks made earlier in a New York Times >article > >> when he said, " Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRIs, produce >scientifically > >> meaningless pretty pictures which are essentially reminiscent of > >phrenology. > >> Who knows where or when the much-sought answers will emerge? " > >> > >> While it is insulting to many physicians who are aware of the fraud >that > >is > >> being perpetrated in the name of treating mental illness for men in > >> positions of extreme power to continue to push the strict >pharmacological > >> line, this has been endemic in the Clinton-Gore administration. David > >> Satcher, the U.S. surgeon general, is a case in point. > >> > >> Fred Baughman, a pediatric neurologist dedicated to exposing fraudulent > >> medical diagnoses of mental illnesses, took the surgeon general to task > >for > >> what Baughman called Satcher's " attempt to represent mental disorders >as > >> actual diseases. " In response to a first-ever Surgeon General's Report >on > >> Mental Illness, made public in December 1999, just months after the > >> Columbine shooting tragedy, Baughman wrote to the nation's top medicine > >man > >> asking, > >> " Why have you chosen to be the first-ever Surgeon General to issue a > >> report on mental health? As I have shown, it has little or nothing to >do > >> with medical science, bona fide diseases or epidemics. Have other >factors > >> motivated you? You might have addressed the biggest, most heinous >epidemic > >> of all, that of mandating Ritalin and other addictive, dangerous, even > >> deadly amphetamines for 5-6 million entirely normal American children, >as > >> 'treatment' for the wholly fraudulent psychiatric 'disease' ADHD. " > >> > >> Baughman concluded his letter: " Your role in this deception and > >> victimization is clear. Whether you are a physician so unscientific >that > >you > >> cannot read their contrived 'neurobiologic' literature and see the >fraud, > >or > >> whether you see it and choose to be an accomplice - you should resign. " > >> > >> Loren Mosher, a psychiatrist and 30-year member of the American > >Psychiatric > >> Association, or APA, resigned from the organization over the blatant > >> infiltration of pharmaceutical money now permeating the organization >and > >> concurs with Baughman about the surgeon general's mental health report. > >> Mosher tells Insight that " the report is a joke. " He says, " There are >no > >> tests for these so-called mental diagnoses. You can't do that with > >> psychiatric diagnoses. " > >> > >> Regardless of the continual stream of articles from reputable >physicians > >> contradicting the biochemical advocacy being pushed by the > >> administration, Satcher, Hyman and Koplewicz have been elevated in >stature > >> and now are considered foremost authorities on psychiatric public >health, > >> greatly due to the platform provided by the nation's first and second > >> ladies. Now the first lady has announced a $5 million research grant >for > >> Hyman's NIMH to study the effects of psychotropic drugs on children >under > >> the age of 7. > >> > >> For David Oaks, coordinator of Support Coalition International, an > >> Oregon-based organization representing 80 groups working for >mental-health > >> rights, the first lady's research announcement was a warning shot over >the > >> bow. Oaks is alarmed by what he considers the push to medicate. " There >is > >no > >> safety anywhere, " he tells Insight. " The forced administration of drugs >is > >> definitely going up. Nearly 40 states have laws where they have > >> forced-drugging in your own home. Out of the White House conference >came > >the > >> endorsement of the Program of Assertive Community Treatment, or PACT. > >> That's the teeth of the outpatient forced-drugging: at-home drug >delivery, > >> here they will come to your home every day if necessary for medication > >> compliance. Drugging is the be-all and end-all. " > >> > >> Not everyone is buying the Clinton administration line. In mid-May a > >> class-action lawsuit was filed in Dallas for alleged fraud and >conspiracy > >in > >> overpromoting the stimulant medication Ritalin. > >> > >> Three national defendants are named: Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp. > >> (formerly Ciba Geigy), the manufacturer of Ritalin; CHADD > >> (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), > >> a parent's organization that is partially funded by drug companies; > >> and the APA. > >> > >> Among the allegations: The drug company " deliberately, intentionally, > >> and negligently promoted the diagnosis of ADD/ADHD and sales of Ritalin > >> through its promotional literature. " The lawsuit also charges the drug > >> company with " actively supporting groups such as Defendant CHADD, both > >> financially and with other means, so that such organizations would >promote > >> and support the ever- increasing implementation of the ADD/ADHD >diagnosis > >as > >> well as > >> directly increasing Ritalin sales. " And the lawsuit further claims that > >> " Defendant American Psychiatric Association conspired, colluded and > >> cooperated with the other Defendants " while taking " financial > >> contributions from Ciba Geigy as well as other members of the > >pharmaceutical > >> industry. " > >> > >> Andy Waters of the Dallas law firm of Waters and Kraus, > >> www.RitalinFraud.com is lead attorney for the plaintiffs. He tells >Insight > >> that " the nature of the lawsuit is for consumer fraud. The legal >concept > >is > >> the unholy alliance of the psychiatrists, manufacturers and parents >groups > >> that have combined to > >> create a diagnosis that didn't exist and create and accelerate an >enormous > >> market for Ritalin. My sincere hope is that 60 to 90 days from now >we'll > >> have a judge ordering the defendants to release information. I think we > >will > >> find that Novartis was involved in the making of the diagnosis - it's >just > >> too close a connection to rule it out. " > >> > >> Meanwhile, a growing number of members of state boards of education, >state > >> legislatures and the U.S. Congress have been taking action to stop the > >tidal > >> wave of psychotropic drugs being prescribed for children under the >guise > >of > >> public health. New York, New Jersey, Idaho, Rhode Island, Minnesota, > >> Georgia, > >> Colorado, Arizona and Pennsylvania have passed or have legislation >pending > >> that confronts the issue of widespread prescription of psychotropic >drugs > >to > >> school-age children. Legislative topics include examining the impact of > >> psychotropic drugs, prohibiting school personnel from recommending or > >> discussing medications for schoolchildren, requiring pharmacists to > >disclose > >> the potentially addictive nature of psychotropic drugs and preventing > >> any school official from requiring that children be placed on >psychotropic > >> drugs as a condition for remaining in school. > >> > >> Back at the White House conference, however, the solution to the > >> violence confronting America's youth -the Hillary-Tipper answer to the > >> psychotropic-drug epidemic - was more drugging. In fact, the first and > >> second ladies exercised all their mental-health resources to try to > >convince > >> the nation that mental illnesses are " real illnesses of the brain " and > >> " should be treated the same as physical illness. " This would mean, of > >> course, that public-health authorities should have the right to examine > >> every American child for mental illness as a matter of public health - >and > >> diagnose and treat them pharmacologically in whatever way they choose. > >> > >> Regardless of the fact that there simply are no data to support such > >> claims, the president praised his wife and mental-health guru - the >person > >> " who knows more and cares more, " Mrs. Gore, for the " truly remarkable > >> experience. " The White House conference was, to the president, > >> " stimulating, moving and humbling, " because " it's so real. " > >> > >> Then, under the guise of exercising presidential authority, Clinton > >> in-structed the nation's largest private insurer, the Federal Employee > >> Health Benefit Plan, to provide full parity for mental and physical > >health. > >> He directed the Health Care Finance Administration to encourage states >to > >> better coordinate mental-health services, and he called for medication > >> targeted at people with the most serious mental disorders who rely on > >> Medicaid. And, to wind up his mental-health giveaway, the president > >> announced that he had requested the largest increase in history - some >$70 > >> million - " to help provide more mental-health services. " > >> > >> Tipper Gore did not respond to questions Insight faxed to her office >and > >> Hillary Clinton's communications director refused Insight's request for >an > >> interview, saying, " We're going to pass on providing comments to your > >> questions. " So one only can imagine the kind of mental-health programs > >those > >> ladies will be working for should Hillary be elected to the Senate and > >> Tipper take over as first lady. As for the need to profile, diagnose >and > >> dope America's schoolchildren to assure their mental health, well, the > >> Clinton-Gore psychiatrists have proved how much children " need " it - > >> " whether or not they want it or are willing > >> to accept it. " > >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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