Bush - Labeling Kids Mentally Ill For Profit

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Independent Media TV

Under Reported

 

March 12, 2005

Bush - Labeling Kids Mentally Ill For Profit

By: Evelyn Pringle

Independent Media TV

 

Citing recommendations by the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health

(NFC), Bush wants to launch a nationwide mental illness screening

program in government institutions, including the public school

system, for all students from kindergarten up to the 12th grade.

 

The New Freedom Commission was established by an Executive Order Bush

issued on April 29, 2002. According to a July 22, 2003, press release,

the Commission recommends transforming America's mental health care

system.

 

" Achieving this goal will require greater engagement and education of

first line health care providers - primary care practitioners - and a

greater focus on mental health care in institutions such as schools,

child welfare programs, and the criminal and juvenile justice systems.

The goal is integrated care that can screen, identify, and respond to

problems early, " the Commission's press release stated.

 

According to the NFC, its recommendations are being already being

promoted in Alaska; Arizona; Arkansas; California; Colorado;

Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Hawaii; Idaho; Illinois;

Indiana; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maryland; Massachusetts;

Michigan; Montana; Nebraska; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New Mexico;

New York; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; South

Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; Utah; Virginia; Washington; West Virginia;

Wisconsin; and Wyoming.

 

The truth is, this is nothing but another Bush profiteering scheme to

implement a drug treatment program for use in the public institutions

that will generate high volume sales of the relatively new, but

inadequately tested, high- priced psychiatric drugs. If all goes as

planned, the scheme will generate millions of new customers for the

drug companies.

 

Original Scheme Hatched In Texas

 

The commission's final report identifies what it claims are several

model programs as examples of how aspects of mental health care have

been transformed in selected communities.

 

One program is the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP), a

medication treatment program that screens people for mental illness

and then prescribes highly profitably psychiatric drugs.

 

However, the plan came under intense scrutiny when it was implemented

in the state of Pennsylvania. A whistle-blower by the name of Allen

Jones,* who was an employee of the Pennsylvania office of Inspector

General, published a report that described how medical leaders in

Pennsylvania who controlled the medication plan, received payments

from the drug companies who were going to benefit from the plan.

 

Through the Texas scheme, drug companies were able to gain unlimited

access to the Texas prison system, juvenile justice system, foster

care program, and state mental health hospitals, to recruit new customers.

 

In Texas, the list of medications to be prescribed was established by

what was termed, an " expert consensus, " and drugs recommended for

first line treatment, included high-priced drugs such as Paxil,

Zyprexa, Adderall, Zoloft, Risperdal, Seroqual, Depakote, Prozac,

Wellbutron, Zyban, Remeron, Serzone, and Effexor.

 

After securing access to the public systems, the next step in the

Texas scheme was to get lawmakers to pass legislation to increase

Medicaid coverage to persons who ordinarily would not qualify, in

order to provide funding by way of tax dollars to pay for the drugs

prescribed to customers within theses systems.

 

The fact is, our children are already being overmedicated. According

to a May, 2003 report by the New York Times, " National sales of

anti-psychotics reached $6.4 billion in 2002, making them the

fourth-highest-selling class of drugs, behind cholesterol- lowering

drugs, ulcer drugs and antidepressants. "

 

The number of children on antidepressant medication increased by over

500% between 1999 and 2003. Antidepressants and anti- psychotics now

constitute two of the four top classes of drug sales.

 

For example, Zyprexa is manufactured by Eli Lilly and is one of the

drugs on the list in Texas. In 2002, according to the watchdog group,

NDC Health, " more than 7.4 million prescriptions were written for

Zyprexa. "

 

In 2003, it became Eli Lilly's top seller with worldwide sales of over

$4 billion. According to the New York Times, 70% of the Zyprexa

purchased in the US that year, was paid for by government programs

like Medicare and Medicaid.

 

Eli Lilly has well-known ties to the Bush administration. After he

left the CIA in 1977, Bush Senior became a member of Lilly's board of

directors. When he left the company to become Vice President under

Reagan in 1980, he forgot to mention that he owned stock in the

company at the same time that he was lobbying for tax breaks for the

company even though it manufactured drugs in Puerto Rico. Bush Junior

made Eli Lilly CEO, Sidney Taurel, a member of the Homeland Security

Council.

 

During the 2000 presidential election year, Lilly gave over $1.5

million to political candidates and over 80% that $1.5 million went to

Bush and other Republican candidates.

 

Many members of the New Freedom Commission also have ties to the

pharmaceutical industry and have served on drug company advisory boards.

 

What's In Store For Us

 

The NFC appointed 15 subcommittees to review of the mental health

service delivery system and appointed a Chair for each one. Several

other Commissioners served on each subcommittee, and chose experts to

provide advice and support. The experts prepared discussion papers

that outlined key issues and presented policy options for

consideration by the full subcommittee. The subcommittee reported to

the full Commission only in summary form, on which the full Commission

reached a consensus on the policy options that would be included in

its final report entitled, " Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental

Health Care in America. "

 

A February 5, 2003, summary report by the Policy Options Subcommittee

on Medicaid, began by stating, " An effective and comprehensive mental

health system must rely on many sources of financing. Many States have

made significant use of flexibility in the Medicaid program to support

their systems of care. This has resulted in Medicaid being the largest

payer of public mental health services in the country. "

 

The report outlined the following recommendations:

 

Enhance Service Delivery

 

1. Public financing should support evidenced-based practices that are

necessary and effective for successful community living.

 

2. Medicaid financial incentives and opportunities for the most

appropriate community-based care should be increased.

 

Enhance Service Planning and Coordination

 

1. Federal leadership should guide and facilitate improved planning

among State agencies that fund and implement services for persons with

mental illness.

 

2. The federal government should assure proper data collection and

reporting to facilitate and support mental health planning and quality

management at all levels of the public mental health system.

 

One February 5, 2003, report by a subcommittee titled, Promoting,

Preserving and Restoring Children's Mental Heath, began in part, by

saying, " Mental health problems among children and adolescents

constitute a public health crisis for our nation. ... The extent,

severity, and far-reaching consequences of mental health problems in

children and adolescents make it imperative that our nation adopt a

comprehensive, systematic, public health approach to improving the

mental health status of children, " the report said.

 

The approach, the report advised, should focus on " both strengthening

services and supports for children with serious emotional disorders

and their families, and on prevention and early intervention

strategies for all children. "

 

The subcommittee wanted the Federal and State governments to formulate

a plan to (1) implement a cross-agency, comprehensive, public health

approach for children's mental health at Federal and State levels; (2)

strengthen children's mental health focus in State governments; and

(3) establish a Federal interagency entity for children's mental health.

 

As for funding, the subcommittee said: " Federal and state agencies and

commercial insurers should realign funding policies related to

children's mental health to support a comprehensive array of services

and supports, including home and community based services and supports

that are individualized, family focused, coordinated, and culturally

competent. "

 

The subcommittee specified that a plan should be developed for

Medicaid to support home and community-based services and support and

individualized care, and maximize strategies to provide coverage and

mental health care to uninsured children.

 

In addition, the subcommittee wanted the government to provide

technical assistance related to more efficient and effective

implementation of early and periodic screening, diagnosis, and

treatment (EPSDT).

 

Here's good one. The subcommittee we should strengthen Federal and

State requirements for family participation. " Federal and state

governments should promote a broader concept of " mental health "

services for children and adolescents with emotional disorders and

their families, " it advised.

 

" Recognizing that children receive more services through schools than

any other public system, " the report recommended that " federal, state,

and local agencies should more fully recognize and address the mental

health needs of youth in the education system, " it advised. " Likewise,

these agencies should work collaboratively with families and develop,

evaluate, and disseminate effective approaches for providing mental

health services and supports to youth in schools, " it wrote.

 

The subcommittee recommended training teachers and school personnel to

recognize signs of emotional problems in children and to make

appropriate referrals for assessment and services. " Systematic

screening procedures to identify ... problems and treatment needs

should be implemented in specific settings in which youngsters are at

high risk for emotional disorders or where there is known to be a high

prevalence of these or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse

disorders, " according to the report.

 

And get this! Anyone involved in the juvenile justice system or

welfare system is really in for trouble. " Screening should be

implemented upon entry into, and periodically thereafter in, the

juvenile justice and child welfare systems, as well as in other

settings and populations with known high risk, such as the Medicaid

population. When mental health problems are identified, youth should

be linked with appropriate services and supports, " the report advised.

 

This gang of thugs is even coming up with ways to make money off

infants shortly after they enter the world. This particular report

recommends screening for all children ages 0 to 5 for social and

emotional development as part of primary health care visits.

 

Mega-Bucks For Shrinks

 

Dr Jane Orient, the Executive Director of the Association of American

Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) has a few things to say about this

latest profiteering scheme. " Teams of experts are awaiting an infusion

of cash, " she says, " They'll be ensconced in your child's school

before you even know it. "

 

Orient says an added " bonus is that your little darlings will probably

give them quite a bit of information about you also, and then you can

receive therapy you didn't know you needed. "

 

According to Orient, kids will be asked invasive personal questions

like whether their parents raise their voice, or " Ever spank them?

Have politically incorrect attitudes? Use forbidden words? Own a gun?

Smoke cigarettes, especially indoors? Read extremist literature?

Refuse to recycle? Prepare for a knock at the door. "

 

The answers to these questions could lead to a home visit with

parents, and accusations of " poor parenting skills, inadequate

housekeeping, harmful literature, or a baby who is crying. ..., "

Orient warns.

 

She lists the many tools at the disposal of what she calls " the mental

health squad, " including " Counseling sessions. Drugs. Group therapy.

Removing the child from the home. " Although removing a child from the

home is listed as a last resort, the mere threat of it " can accomplish

wonders, " Orient noted.

 

According to the he University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Student Health

Center, privacy rights are essentially being ignored. The center is

telling patients that if government agencies want to see their medical

records, they get to review them without a patient's knowledge or

consent. " By law we cannot reveal when we have disclosed such

information to the government, " the center advised.

 

Screen Those In Dire Need First

 

If you want to see mental illness, just go knock on the door of the

White House, or the Bush`s home in Crawford, Texas. I recommend that

we start this mandatory screening program with the Bush family.

 

Lets find some treatment for their deep-seeded mental health problems.

For instance, what rotten things happened in the Bush home that drove

the twins to start drinking excessively while under age. And what

emotional problems caused them to intentionally embarrass their father

in a matter of months after he took office.

 

Then lets screen the President's nieces and nephews to see why Jeb's

kids find it appropriate to forge prescriptions for drugs, and why his

son would engage in underage sex in a car parked in a public shopping

center lot. Or why Jeb's wife would try to smuggle in goods from other

countries without paying the fees.

 

Then lets move on to brother Neil and have him screened to find out

what compelled him to have sex with strange women who showed up at his

motel room door in foreign countries, which resulted in a case of

incurable VD. And let's find out what possessed him to have an affair

with his mother's secretary while both parties were still very married..

 

Next, let's line up members of the Bush administration and find out

what compulsions need eradicating. Then let's continue on to the

officials at the FDA and figure out what happened to their

consciences, which allow them to promote medicating kids for profits.

 

Freedom My Butt

 

Granted, the " New Freedom Commission " is a catchy title. However,

words can be very deceptive. I fail to see how forcing people to

undergo mental health testing can possibly represent freedom, or how

drugging people for profit can hardly be viewed as a form of freedom.

 

I agree with an article I read on NewsTarget.com that said, " these

people have lost their minds in a mad attempt to generate obscene

profits regardless of the cost to human life, individual privacy, and

human rights. "

 

Evelyn Pringle

e.pringle

Miamisburg OH

 

(Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for Independent Media TV and an

investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government)

 

* To the millions of doctors, parents and patients who will be

affected, Allen Jones says educate yourselves. The Internet has many

sites that will help you. The Alliance for Human Research Protection,

www.ahrp.org would be a good place to start.

 

 

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