Ritalin deaths.

[Guest guest]

Death From Ritalin

 

The Truth Behind ADHD

 

www.RitalinDeath.com

 

BY: Lawrence T. Smith

 

I'm here today, to warn parents of the risks involved in giving

children stimulant medications used to treat ADHD (attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder). These behaviors are listed in the DSM-IV

Diagnostic Criteria for ADHD.

 

Our fourteen-Year-old Son Matthew died on March 21, 2000. The cause

was determined to be from the long- term (age 7-14) use of

Methylphenidate a medication commonly known as Ritalin.

 

The Certificate of Death under due to, (or because of) reads. Death

caused from Long Term Use of Methylphenidate, (Ritalin). According to

Dr. Ljuba Dragovic, The chief pathologist in Oakland County Michigan,

upon autopsy, Matthew's heart showed clear signs of small vessel

damage, the type caused by stimulant drugs like amphetamines.

 

The medical examiners told me that a full-grown man's heart weighs

about 350 grams and that Matthew's heart weight was about 402 grams.

 

Matthew did not have a preexisting heart disease or defect that we

knew of. We, his parents never ignored his medical needs. The medical

examiner said this type of heart damage is not easy to detect with

the standard test necessary for prescription refills.

 

 

 

While visiting the doctor with the schools diagnosis and the

recommendation for Ritalin, he seemed very frustrated and asked us to

let the school know, I am not a pharmacy. This leads me to believe

that we were not the first parents sent to this doctor, with the

schools diagnosis and recommendation for Ritalin.

 

No one ever informed us of other crucial tests (echocardiogram) that

we could have had done that would have discovered the enlargement of

the heart muscle, caused from scare tissue which these types of drugs

cause. The standard test performed consists of blood work, listening

to the heart, questions about school behaviors, sleeping and eating

habits.

 

It all started for Matthew in the first grade the school social

worker in Berkley, Michigan kept calling us in for meetings. One

particular morning before an IEP meeting, the school social worker

Monica Fuchs, my wife and I, were waiting on the others to arrive.

 

Monica made us feel very threatened when she said that if we wouldn't

consider getting Matt on Ritalin for their diagnosis of Attention

Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, that social services (child

protective services) could charge us for neglecting his educational

and emotional needs. My wife and I were scared of the possibility of

losing our children, if we did not comply.

 

 

I believe that some school employees like having children medicated

because, it makes frustrated students that are having a difficult

time learning and understanding, easier to manage, regardless of the

physical and psychological risks this practice poses to children.

 

Not all families can afford hundreds of dollars for a drug free,

private evaluation, so they will not be cornered into medicating

their child.

 

I am hoping that Republicans and Democrats will work together and

fight this horrific war against the future of America, our children.

 

Medical diagnosis should remain outside the realm of education and

stay there. Pressure to seek specific medical treatment is not the

job of the school system.

 

We did not want Matthew on any medications, even though the school

social worker or the doctor never informed us about the dangers of

Ritalin and other stimulant medications used for ADD and ADHD. We

just didn't feel good about putting our son on drugs and we made it

very clear to school officials.

 

Informed Consent " , which states in part A person's agreement to allow

something to happen (such as surgery) that is based on a full

disclosure of the facts needed to make the decision intelligently;

i.e. knowledge of risks involved, alternatives etc " and " the probable

risks against the probable benefits "

 

The violation of parent's rights is when they are not told of the

unscientific nature of so-called disorders such as ADHD or the risks

of the treatments involving (drugs) and they certainly are not told

of alternatives to their child's behavior such as undiagnosed

allergies or food sensitivities, which could manifest with the

symptoms of what psychiatry calls ADHD.

 

If we weren't pressure by the school system, Matt would still be

alive today. I cannot go back and change things for us at this point.

However, I hope to God my story and information will reach the hearts

and minds, of many families, so they can make an educated decision

with more than a little selective information, if any, paid for by

psychology and drug companies.

 

I have created this website in hopes that parents will learn the

health risks involved in using psychotropic medications on growing

children.

I hope you will be spared all the suffering and heartbreak this whole

ADHD issue has caused our family and many others.

 

Please do not be intimidated by family, school staff, doctors, or

anyone into medicating your child for ADHD or ADD. These mental

illnesses are scientifically unfounded with no scientific validity

what so ever. The dopamine theory is nothing more than wishful

thinking on the part of psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry.

 

I truly believe this must have been my son's purpose, to save the

health and lives of many others.

 

How old will people live after taking these types of drugs as a

child? Every time I hear about a child or young adult that has died

from heart failure, I always wonder if they were ever on a

psychotropic medication used for ADHD or depression.

 

If I would of known about all the children that have died from these

psychiatric medications, I would have never given Matt the first pill.

 

Did you know that children that are diagnosed as having ADHD or ADD

and take medication, the school labels them as learning disabled, and

the schools receives additional state and federal funding per-child,

per-semester.

 

I wonder if that is one of the reasons why school administrators are

so adamant about medication, and the other would be to control their

behavior, in their drug free school zone.

 

One of the hardest things for me to deal with is the fact that,

Matthew never wanted his medication.

 

How many more 11-year-old Stephanie Hall's and 14-year-old Matthew

Smith's will have to die before someone puts a stop to the biggest

health care fraud ever? How many times will school psychology and

drug companies get away with this?

 

In 1998 at the National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference on

ADHD The NIH issued the following statement regarding ADHD:

 

" We do not have an independent, valid test for ADHD, and there is no

data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain malfunction "

 

Children, do not need to be made into little robots with medication.

I feel that good parenting, structure, diets, and teaching methods

can make all the difference in the world. Different children develop

in different ways; you cannot put children all into one box.

 

Did you know that the ADHD diagnosis checklist of behaviors is almost

the same as the list of behaviors for gifted children. www.nfgcc.org

 

Did you know that doctor's use to give amphetamines out for diet

medication? They stopped because of the dangerous and sometimes fatal

heart related side effects.

 

Now drug companies have a new market, with new names for the drugs

and have went from adult weight medication to children's ADHD.

 

The DEA has classified Ritalin as a schedule two drug, comparable to

Cocaine. Ritalin is also one of the top ten abused prescription drugs

on the streets today.

 

From the research that I have done on amphetamines, when they are

used, all the veins and arteries constrict and get very small which

makes it hard for the heart to pump blood throughout the body. The

extra force it takes to circulate blood causes damage to the heart.

 

There are many other drugs that are given to children for ADHD with

different names; Adderall, Concreta, Metadate, Ritalin, the list goes

on and on, most if not all are stimulant drugs with Amphetamine-Speed.

 

We are coming to a point in our history were children have been

taking these drugs for some time. Now the information is starting to

come out. This is a very sad why for us to find out the long-term

side effects, by using our children as guinea pigs.

 

Please feel free to share your comments with others on the discussion

board.

 

 

 

 

 

If you are being harassed to medicate your child for a ADHD?

 

Tell Them Where To Go!

 

RitalinDeath.com

 

 

 

Dr. Fred Baughman: Articles & essays

 

 

 

50 conditions Mimicking ADHD

 

 

 

Fight For Kids.org

 

 

 

Dr. Mary Ann Block

 

 

 

Dr. Peter Breggin

 

 

 

Dr. John Breeding

 

 

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