Fwd: Psychiatric Drugs Pushing Children to Crisis Units_Tampa Tribune

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SSRI-Research , JustSayNo wrote:

Tommy Thompson; Xavier Castellanos; Stephen Hinshaw Ph. D.; Rachel

Klein Ph. D.; Peter Jensen; Paul Appelbaum MD; Laurence Greenhill;

Judith Rapoport MD; Joseph Biederman; John March; Jim Swanson; Jeffrey

Geller MD; Howard Abikoff; Donald Rosenstein MD; David Shore MD;

Daniel

Pine; Benedetto Vitiello MD

 

 

ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP)

http://www.ahrp.org

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

212-595-8974

e-mail: veracare@a...

 

FYI

 

A report in the Tampa Tribune following its five month investigation,

shows how misprescribing of psychiatric drugs for children can

precipitate

life-threatening tragedies.

 

The report describes a 9 year old child's descent into suicidal

violence

after she had been haphazardly prescribed powerful antipsychotic and

antidepressant drugs--Risperdal, Seroquel, Paxil and Zoloft are among

the drugs mentioned.

 

Can this possibly be therapeutic for a 9 year old?

 

" Emergency workers cornered her behind the office and tied her to a

gurney.

She screamed and thrashed the whole way to the Community Hospital

emergency

room and screamed throughout the afternoon as nurses tried to sedate

her.

They finally succeeded by giving her a shot of Thorazine. "

 

The Tampa Tribune reports that its investigation and analysis involved

nearly 600 sheriff's reports in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

The

Tribune found rising number of child Baker Act incidents statewide.

 

Those findings correspond to the findings of Dr. Julie Zito and

colleagues at the University of Maryland whose article in the January

Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, reported that

the number of children taking psychiatric drugs nationwide has at

least doubled in the past decade.

 

See: http://www.ahrp.org/infomail/0103/14.html

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Medications Can Fan Children's Emotional Flames

http://www.tampatrib.com/MGA7XB3B9ED.html

Medications Can Fan Children's Emotional Flames

The Tampa Tribune Apr 8, 2003

By LINDSAY PETERSON lpeterson@t...

 

To protect the children mentioned in this series, last names have been

omitted in most cases.

 

Lee thrashed in her father's arms, a raging 60-pound girl. She had

been

agitated all day, jumping around and threatening to kill herself.

 

When she stuck her fingers into the electrical outlet, saying she was

going to electrocute herself, her parents decided they had to get her

to the

hospital. Maybe someone there could help her, they thought.

 

But her admission to a crisis center under Florida's Baker Act was

only

one step in a two- month journey through emotional bedlam.

 

Lee, 9, had been diagnosed a year earlier with bipolar disorder and

prescribed psychiatric medication, including Seroquel and Risperdal.

About September, when she developed an obsessive fear of germs, the

psychiatrist suggested Paxil, used for anxiety and depression.

 

Within weeks, Lee's mother noticed a surge in her aggression. She told

the doctor, but he said it was an acceptable side effect and she

would be

fine. If he had taken her more seriously, Lee's mother says, her

daughter

might have been spared four wrenching trips to crisis units.

 

The family has seen the worst of the Baker Act system, Lee's father

says.

 

In roughly a fourth of Baker Act cases involving children, there are

references to psychiatric drugs, a study by

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