URGENT -The Child Medication Safety Act

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

I didn't see that anyone has posted this article yet. If they have,

I apologize for the duplicate. It actually seems like a major

newspaper (The Boston Globe) spotted the right why for once. How

amazing!

 

Info on contacting Senator Ted Kennedy directly regarding

this bill is contained at the bottom of this post.

 

A WORLD WITHOUT PSYCHIATRY,

 

Pamela

 

 

 

From the Boston Globe:

 

Kennedy ties up drug bill

By Jessica E. Vascellaro, Globe Correspondent | July 2, 2004

 

WASHINGTON -- A bill banning schools from coercing parents into

putting their children on psychotropic drugs, passed with near-

universal support in the House, is being tied up in a Senate

committee by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who contends it requires more

study.

 

Supporters of the bill, which sailed through the House 425 to 1, said

it will help prevent an epidemic of children on drugs like Ritalin

and Prozac, and that Kennedy is being influenced by his longstanding

ties to health and pharmaceutical associations, which contend the

bill will discourage the diagnosis of mental illnesses that could be

easily treated.

 

The Child Medication Safety Act has sat in the Senate Committee on

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions all year. Proponents say

Senate leaders never told them why the bill had not come up for a

vote, but this week Kennedy, who is the committee's ranking member,

confirmed to the Globe that he is seeking to delay its consideration.

 

''This is a complex question that demands a serious study, " Kennedy,

Democrat of Massachusetts, said in a statement. ''Until we know the

extent of the problem, any further action is unwarranted. "

 

The bill was prompted by complaints from parents that school

officials were threatening to keep their children out of class unless

they took behavior-altering medication. About 11 million

schoolchildren and adolescents took prescription drugs for mental

health in 2002, and the number is rising.

 

The bill denies federal funds to schools that fail to implement a

policy to ''protect children and their parents from being coerced

into administering a controlled substance in order to attend school,

and for other purposes, " such as extracurricular activities.

 

Among the drugs it targets are behavioral drugs such as Adderall and

Ritalin and antidepressants such as Prozac and Paxil. Prozac is the

only antidepressant approved by the Federal Drug Administration for

people under 18, and the FDA is expected this summer to release a

study on whether antidepressants increase the risk of suicide.

 

If the bill fails to make it onto a tight Senate scheduled squeezed

by two national conventions and an August recess, it would have to

return to the House next year.

 

Representative Max Burns, Republican of Georgia and sponsor of the

bill in the House, said that he will meet with the House leadership

next week to explore ways to pressure the Senate to bring the bill to

the floor.

 

''It's hard to be optimistic because it has been there for over a

year, " he said. ''[but] we need to find a way to shake this bill

loose. "

 

Kennedy's office said that it is important to separate the roles of

schools and doctors but that any legislation limiting schools'

ability to push for treatment of children with mental-health issues

should wait until further study of the benefits and detriments of

psychiatric drugs.

 

Libby Nealis, director of public policy for the National Association

of School Psychologists, said that her organization has been fighting

the law and is confident that it will not pass.

 

Nealis called the bill a ''knee-jerk reaction to anecdotal stories "

and said it would deter schools from discussing crucial mental health

information with parents.

 

The battle over schools' role in recommending psychiatric drugs has

been fought on the state level for years. Nine states have already

passed or introduced legislation prohibiting schools from threatening

to limit children's participation in classes or activities if they do

not go on medication.

 

Personal stories have sparked political activism. Sheila Matthews of

New Canaan, Conn., said she was told by a school psychologist that

her son had attention deficit disorder and that psychiatric drugs was

his only alternative. In response, she helped found Parents for Label

& Drug Free Education, an organization advocating parents' rights to

refuse medical treatment for their children. Ablechild now has almost

200 members and has launched a petition supporting the bill.

 

Matthews said that she has frequently contacted Kennedy's office

about the bill and believes his appeal for research is a cover for

his support for health and pharmaceutical groups. Since 1999, Kennedy

has received $171,601 in campaign contributions from health

professionals and $97,050 from the pharmaceutical and health-product

industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

 

But Dr. Harold Koplewicz, director of the New York University Child

Study Center, said Kennedy's opposition is warranted: The bill would

undermine the detection of children with mental health problems, a

pressing concern when 80 percent of cases go undetected.

 

''There is no medicine in all of pediatrics that has been tested as

many times as Ritalin, " he said. ''We have definitive evidence that

it's an effective treatment. "

 

The greater danger comes not from overmedication but from failing to

detect mental problems in children. ''We are doing a horrible job,

and this bill will encourage less identification, " he said. ''This

bill is offensive. "

 

© Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

 

From Mike Kaplan:

 

The Child Medication Safety Act has already passed the U.S. House of

Representatives by a vote of 425-1. If this bill is passed by the

Senate it will be a big blow against psychiatric totalitarianism.

 

Ted Kennedy is STOPPING (he says 'delay to give it more

consideration') The Child Medication Safety Act from becoming law.

Read the article below. The issue was clear enough to 425 of our

elected representatives, they didn't need to 'delay' it. They acted.

It's time Ted Kennedy does the same thing.

 

Here's where you can do to make a huge impact:

 

1. Call, fax, or email Ted Kennedy and tell him that you want The

Child Medication Safety Act to pass. No parent should be coerced into

drugging their kid.

 

Calls and faxes are the best. When you call, an aide will answer the

phone. Tell the aide why your calling and who you are. It will take 2

minutes. The flood of calls will have an impact.

 

Phone: 1(202) 224-4543 Fax: (202) 224-2417

 

Emails have far less significance. The best is to call, fax and

email. Email: kennedy.senate.gov/contact.html

 

2. Call, fax, or email again a few days later.

 

3. Pass this email and Call to Action to your friends. Encourage them

to call Kennedy and get him to pass this bill.

 

Thanks for your help,

 

Mike Kaplan

 

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