Evelyn Pringle: TeenScreen Sets Up Shop In Illinois

[Guest guest]

atracyphd2

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 14:12:01 EDT

[drugawareness] Evelyn Pringle: TeenScreen Sets Up Shop In

Illinois

 

 

 

Once again we have another excellent article by Evelyn Pringle on the Teen

Screen program. She is doing an absolutely excellent job of raising

awareness on

this issue! Please share this information on this very critical issue with

your local government leaders. Stop this nightmare from happening to

an even

greater extent in your own backyard!!

 

To add to the excellent information Evelyn has given in this article

on the

Teen Screen program, I will include a letter from me that went to a school

board who was considering implementing the same program:

 

I head an international organization formed to educate about the

dangers of

antidepressant medications, the International Coalition for Drug Awareness

(www.drugawareness.org). Our Arizona Director, Pepper Draper, invited

several of

us to join her in testifying to the Tempe Arizona Compadre High School

Board

about the Teen Screen Program. Being an Arizona native, I was more

than happy to

join her.

 

August of 2002 Mark Taylor, who is the first boy shot at Columbine High

School and is known as the Columbine Miracle Boy after taking between

7 - 13 nine

millimeter bullets in that attack, and I testified before this AZ

school board.

We warned them of the extreme dangers of antidepressant drugs. We

warned of

the suicide and the violence that too often come as a result of the use of

these drugs. After working as an expert in many school shooting

incidents due to

the fact that these cases were medication induced, I felt it my duty

to let

this board know that from my experience this move would only open them

up to more

violence and suicide.

 

Mark wanted them to know that he had no doubt that violence would increase

with the implementation of this program. He gave a moving testimony

before the

FDA on the same subject this September, as did I, both of which are

attached to

the bottom of this letter for your consideration. This will give you some

idea of the things we attempted to convey to this school board about

the problems

with the antidepressants which are encouraged by the Teen Screen Program.

 

In the meeting our AZ Director asked those from the Teen Screen Program if

they had in place any type of reporting system to track in the schools

where the

program was already in use for any decrease or increase in suicides or

violence. They admitted they had no reporting system for such a purpose.

 

In spite of our warnings, and even our voicing of concerns about the far

reaching legal implications, the board decided to immediately

implement the Teen

Screen Program. It began in the fall semester of 2002. And in spite of

Teen

Screen's standard lack of reporting results we have some reports back

on that

particular school. Interestingly the school's statistics show that in

the school

year that went from the fall of 2001 to the spring of 2002, before the

Teen

Screen Program began, there were 0 incidents of violence severe enough to

require the presence of an officer. The first year the program was in

place the rate

went from 0 to 3 incidents and the following year jumped from 3 to 9.

 

Coincidence? Not in my opinion. I believe these stats speak clearly of the

dangers of this program. I urge you to consider these things in your

decision.

 

Dr. Tracy

_________________

 

Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D.,

Executive Director, International Coalition For Drug Awareness

Website: www.drugawareness.org

Author: Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare

& CD or audio tape on safe withdrawal: " Help! I Can't Get

Off My Antidepressant! "

Order Number: 800-280-0730

________

 

From the article below:

 

Dr Ann Blake Tracy, is the executive director of the International

Coalition

for Drug Awareness and the author of " Prozac, Panacea or Pandora: Our

Seratonin Nightmare. "

 

She testified at a February 2004, FDA hearing on the adverse effects of

SSRIs, and said, " Research on serotonin has been clear from the very

beginning that

the most damaging thing that could be done to the serotonin system

would be

to impair one's ability to metabolize serotonin. Yet that is exactly

how SSRI

antidepressants exert their effects. "

 

Tracy said that for decades research has shown that impairing serotonin

metabolism will produce numerous health problems including " pains

around the heart,

difficulty breathing, tension and anxiety which appear from out of

nowhere,

depression, suicide -- especially very violent suicide, hostility, violent

crime, arson, substance abuse, psychosis, mania, " and the list goes on

and on.

 

" How anyone ever thought it would be 'therapeutic' to chemically

induce these

reactions is beyond me, " she said.

 

In one study reviewed by the FDA panel, in a pool of 931 depressed

patients

taking SSRIs listed on the TMAP, versus 811 depressed patients taking a

placebo, there were 52 suicidal acts by people on the SSRIs versus 18

on placebo.

 

The program had already been in place for 6 years in Tulsa, Oklahoma

when the

suicide rate rose drastically, causing Michael Brose, the leader of a

mental

health partnership organization there, to say, ''To the best of my

knowledge,

this is the highest number of youth suicides we've ever had during the

school

year -- a number we find very frightening. "

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0506/S00263.htm

 

E. Pringle: TeenScreen Sets Up Shop In Illinois

 

 

 

Monday, 20 June 2005, 11:29 am

 

By Evelyn Pringle

 

A controversial plan to screen all Illinois school children for mental

health

disorders is set to become a reality on June 30th, if the Governor accepts

the final proposal from the Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership

(ICMHP).

 

Illinois became the first state to hop on the bandwagon for President

Bush's

New Freedom Commission's (NFC) plan to subject all American school

children to

mental health screening. In 2003, Illinois Lawmakers passed the $10

million

Illinois Children's Mental Health Act (ICMHP), creating a Children's

Mental

Health Partnership, which many expect to become a model for other states.

 

The Final Report by the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Task Force was

released in April 2003 and it is filled with intrusive and expensive

recommendations. The ICMHP held hearings in various locations across

the state in 2004 to

gather public feedback on the plan.

 

While its proposals seem harmless enough at first glance, comments from

parents during the hearings raised many valid concerns. The State,

critics said, no

longer assumes that Illinois children are mentally healthy, it

presumes all

children need mental health screening.

 

The Task Force Report calls for a comprehensive, coordinated children’s

mental health system comprised of prevention, early intervention, and

treatment for

children ages 0-18 years and for a statewide data-reporting system to

track

information on each person, and social-emotional development screens

with all

mandated school exams (K, 4th, and 9th),

 

The Task Force wants to: Start early, beginning prenatally and at

birth, and

continue throughout adolescence, including efforts to support

adolescents in

making the transition to young adulthood.

 

Karen Hayes, associate director of Concerned Women for America-Illinois

published an Opinion Piece in the Illinois Leader on July 23, 2004 and

had a great

idea. She said maybe the legislators should be mentally evaluated.

 

Concerned parent, Joseph Volpendesta, feels the same way. " Mental Health

screening might be much more usefully employed on these people who

come up with

these brainstorms; it is obvious that they have far too much time on

their hands

and too little regard for those of us who are paying the bills. What is

needed, and at the earliest opportunity, is a bill to rescind this

piece of

legislative claptrap. ... There is no doubt in my mind where the

mental health

screening is most needed and it ain't the kids, " he said in a letter

to the editor

of the Illinois Leader June 13, 2005.

 

TeenScreen Customer Recruitment Scheme

 

At the center of the controversy is program called TeenScreen designed by

pharma backed officials at Columbia University. TeenScreen is supposedly a

suicide-prevention program and is recommended by the NFC, even though

a recent US

Preventive Services Task Force study found " no evidence that screening for

suicide risk reduces suicide attempts or mortality. "

 

Columbia claims the TeenScreen survey can assess the symptoms of 8

disorders

associated with the risk of suicide or mental illness. On March 2,

2004, the

program's Executive Director, Laurie Flynn, testified at a congressional

hearing and said that in screening process, " youth complete a 10-minute

self-administered questionnaire that screens for social phobia, panic

disorder,

generalized anxiety disorder, major depression, alcohol and drug

abuse, and

suicidality. "

 

In May 2004, Illinois lawmakers passed a resolution approving the

implementation of TeenScreen in public schools, which said in part:

(1) " Columbia

TeenScreen Program " , has been proven successful, offers technical

assistance for

implementation of a screening program, and provides all the components

for such a

program at no charge at this time; (2) that we recognize that mental

illness

and suicide among young people are public health crisis in this State

and that

all residents of Illinois should make the identification of mental

disorders

and the prevention of suicide among the young people a public health

priority;

(3) that every young person should be screened ... to identify mental

illness

and prevent suicide; and (4) That such a screening and identification

process

should employ sound, evidence-based tools.

 

The problem is that TeenScreen is not an evidence-based tool. The

program had

already been in place for 6 years in Tulsa, Oklahoma when the suicide rate

rose drastically, causing Michael Brose, the leader of a mental health

partnership organization there, to say, ''To the best of my knowledge,

this is the

highest number of youth suicides we've ever had during the school year

-- a number

we find very frightening. "

 

TeenScreen is an invention of the pharmaceutical industry and is

nothing more

than a customer recruitment scheme to help generate high volume sales of

costly psychiatric drugs. By infiltrating the nation's public school

system, it

will generate millions of new prescription drug customers.

 

" More screened kids means more money for psychiatrists and the

pharmaceutical

industry, " said Vera Hassner Sharav, president of the Alliance for Human

Research Protection, a patient advocacy group, to the Chicago Tribune

on June 5,

2005.

 

" It is important to understand that powerful interests, namely federal

bureaucrats and pharmaceutical lobbies, are behind the push for mental

health

screening in schools...the pharmaceutical industry is eager to sell

psychotropic

drugs to millions of new customers in American schools, " said Rep Ron

Paul,

R-Texas, who happens to be a physician.

 

TeenScreen made its Illinois debut last fall at the Brimfield High

School in

the Peoria area and reports indicate that several more Illinois

schools will

be implementing the program next year, according to investigative

reporter,

Rhonda Robinson.

 

TMAP & IMAP

 

Do the big drug companies have so much power? Why else would this be

happening? It looks like a way to make more young people dependent on

prescription

drugs earlier in life when all they really need is to deal with

growing up, just

like we all did before there was a drug for every ailment and new

ailment to

justify even more new drugs, " parent, Dennis McLouth, of Roseville,

Ill, wrote

in a letter to the Editor of the Illinois Leader on June 13, 2005.

 

My answer to Dennis is yes the drug companies are that powerful, and

it gets

worse. The NFC recommends a drug treatment program called the Texas

Medical

Algorithm Project (TMAP) that specifically requires doctors to

prescribe the

newer generation of psychiatric drugs to children, including the

antidepressants

known as the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors [sSRIs] that can lead

children to commit suicide or other violent acts.

 

According to the American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information

2005,

the “FDA now states that it has determined that antidepressants

increase the

risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children and adolescents

with major

depressive and other psychiatric disorders. "

 

Dr Ann Blake Tracy, is the executive director of the International

Coalition

for Drug Awareness and the author of " Prozac, Panacea or Pandora: Our

Seratonin Nightmare. "

 

She testified at a February 2004, FDA hearing on the adverse effects of

SSRIs, and said, " Research on serotonin has been clear from the very

beginning that

the most damaging thing that could be done to the serotonin system

would be

to impair one's ability to metabolize serotonin. Yet that is exactly

how SSRI

antidepressants exert their effects. "

 

Tracy said that for decades research has shown that impairing serotonin

metabolism will produce numerous health problems including " pains

around the heart,

difficulty breathing, tension and anxiety which appear from out of

nowhere,

depression, suicide -- especially very violent suicide, hostility, violent

crime, arson, substance abuse, psychosis, mania, " and the list goes on

and on.

 

" How anyone ever thought it would be 'therapeutic' to chemically

induce these

reactions is beyond me, " she said.

 

In one study reviewed by the FDA panel, in a pool of 931 depressed

patients

taking SSRIs listed on the TMAP, versus 811 depressed patients taking a

placebo, there were 52 suicidal acts by people on the SSRIs versus 18

on placebo.

 

The drug companies withheld the studies that showed the drugs were

basically

ineffective on kids and that they were in fact dangerous. Most of the

studies

that have surfaced over the past couple years were unearthed during the

discovery process of recent law suits against drug companies.

 

Pediatrician, Dr Karen Effren, questions whether the TMAP list should

be used

at all. " If data is withheld about the dangers or lack of effectiveness of

the new psychiatric drugs, why should physicians believe and carry out the

recommendations of the New Freedom Commission for treatment, such as

the Texas

Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP) that uses those drugs as paid for

the state

incentive grants? "

 

These same sentiments had already been expressed in January 1999, by Peter

Weiden MD, who was one of the participants on the original panel that

approved

drugs to be on the TMAP list, when he openly criticized the process in the

Journal of Practice in Psychiatry and Behavioural Health.

 

Weiden pointed out the fact that drug company money was involved in the

approval of the list. " Another problem is potential bias from funding

sources. The

1996 Guidelines were funded by Janssen (makers of Risperidone

[Risperdal]) and

most of the guidelines' authors have received support from the

pharmaceutical

industry. This potential conflict of interest may create credibility

problems, especially concerning any recommendations supporting the use

of atypical

antipsychotics. "

 

Other drug companies besides Janssen were involved in the creation of the

list. And drug company money was also used to grease the palms of

politician who

would ultimately have to approve the TMAP scheme.

 

For instance, Eli Lilly helped fund the guidelines and also has well-known

ties to both Bush administrations. After Bush Sr left the CIA in 1977,

he became

a member of Lilly's board of directors. When he left the company to become

Reagan's VP in 1980, he forgot to mention that he still owned stock in the

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

Lilly, even though

it manufactured drugs in Puerto Rico.

 

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

Security and his former director of the Office of Management and

Budget, Mitch

Daniels, was also a former senior vice president of Lilly.

 

In the 2000 election the company contributed over $1.5 million to

political

candidates, with over 80% going to Bush and the Republican Party.

 

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in his 2 bids for the

presidency, Bush has been the number one recipient of either party for

campaign

donations from the pharmaceutical industry. The same Robert Wood

Johnson IV, who

has ties to the foundation that funded the TMAP, is also heir to the

Johnson &

Johnson fortune, and raised over $100,000 for Bush's 2000 campaign,

and over

$200,000 for campaign 2004.

 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also helped fund the Illinois

Children’s

Mental Health Task Force, which produced the report that the

Illinois’ Children’

s Mental Health Act of 2003 is based on, according to investigative

reporter

Rhonda Robinson.

 

The Illinois version of the TMAP list, is IMAP and it is already in

place in

23 Illinois counties, Robinson reports.

 

Tax Dollar Funded Drug Pushers

 

Let there be no mistake about it, kids sent to shrinks will end up on

drugs.

In 2002, a survey of recently trained child psychiatrists found that

only one

in 10 children in their practices did not receive a medication. See

Stubbe DE,

Thomas WJ: A survey of early-career child and adolescent

psychiatrists, J Am

Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2002.

 

A recent review of prescription data for 300,000 children ages 19 and

younger, by Medco Health Solutions in 2004, concluded that for the

first time in

history, spending for medications for childhood behavior problems eclipsed

expenditure for any other drug category, including antibiotics.

 

The final draft of the Illinois plan issued this month wants to: Promote

effective use of Medicaid’s Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and

Treatment

benefit in Illinois to support voluntary screening of children ages

birth to

eighteen years, and wants to " Clarify for providers the diagnoses that

create

eligibility for children to obtain Medicaid services. "

 

I wonder how many people are curious as to what might be in store for the

kids they want to screen at age 0. To answer that question, an

investigation of

the drugs being prescribed to Illinois kids on Medicaid might be helpful.

 

On April 25, 2005, the headlines of the Ohio Columbus Dispatch read:

DRUGGED

INTO SUBMISSION, EVEN BABIES GETTING TREATED AS MENTALLY ILL, Doctors

prescribed sedatives and powerful, mood-altering medications for

nearly 700 Ohio

babies and toddlers on Medicaid last summer, according to a Dispatch

review of

records.

 

An investigation by the Dispatch revealed that at least 696 Ohio

children who

were newborn to 3 years old received mental-health drugs paid for by

Medicaid

in July 2004. Hydroxyzine was prescribed most often, with about

three-quarters of the kids on it. The drug, a long-acting

antihistamine, relieves itching

caused by allergies, controls vomiting and reduces anxiety, but is

given to

young children most often for its sedative effects.

 

In addition, more than 90 kids were on another antihistamine, 48 were

taking

anti-anxiety medication and 28 were prescribed antidepressants,

including the

SSRIs Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft. Twenty-seven received Valium, and 18

were on

antipsychotics.

 

This revelation set off alarms in Ohio. " It's troubling, " said John Saros,

executive director of Franklin County Children Services. " How do

doctors even

determine that a 2-year-old is anxious? There's a reason they call it the

terrible twos. "

 

All total, nearly 40,000 Ohio children on Medicaid were taking drugs for

anxiety, depression, delusions, hyperactivity and violent behavior

when the

investigation was conducted July 2004, according to the Dispatch.

 

Illinois' new program keeps stressing that treatment should be funded by

Medicaid. That means drugs folks. Over-drugging kids on Medicaid in

Ohio is not an

isolated practice. Its happening all over the country.

 

On January 15, 2005, the Miami Herald reported that nearly 1,900 children

under the care of Florida's child welfare system are taking

antidepressant drugs,

despite a strong federal warning that such medications are linked to an

increased risk of suicidal thinking.

 

Similar findings held true in Tennessee for kids covered by the State

insurance program. A study conducted in 2004 by Dr William Cooper, an

associate

professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville,

determined that the

use of antipsychotic drugs among low-income children in Tennessee had

nearly

doubled between 1996 and 2001.

 

Cooper's report, published in the August 3, 2004 issue of the Archives of

Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, found that young people who are not

psychotic are

being prescribed antipsychotic drugs for which there was no data on

safety or

effectiveness.

 

The study revealed that the proportion of TennCare children who were

prescribed antipsychotics nearly doubled in six years. The most

dramatic increases

were among those aged 13 to 18 (116%) and those 6 to 12 (93%). Cooper

also found

use among preschool children had increased by 61%.

 

If the Illinois Governor signs the new law on June 30th, in addition to

children, all pregnant women will be screened for depression during

pregnancy and

for up to 1 year following a baby's birth. The treatment for depression

mandated by the IMAP drug list will be the SSRI antidepressants even

though new

studies indicate that SSRIs taken by pregnant women can have serious

adverse

affects on the unborn fetus.

 

" Newborn babies could be at risk of suffering withdrawal symptoms if their

mothers are prescribed antidepressants during pregnancy, " according to

Reuters

on February 4, 2005.

 

Professor Emilio Sanz of the University of La Laguna in Tenerife, Spain,

conducted a study that showed that SSRIs can cause convulsions,

irritability,

abnormal crying and tremors in newborn babies.

 

For the study, Professor Sanz and his team of researchers searched the

World

Health Organization database from 72 countries for the adverse drug

reactions

associated with the use of SSRIs, Reuters reported.

 

Karen Hayes thinks the whole plan stinks. " Proposing that state government

set mental health competency standards for all Illinois pregnant women and

children to age 18 stuns human sensibilities, " Karen Hayes wrote,

" this proposal

calls for collection of mental health data of women and children,

together with

bureaucratic linkage of this information. "

 

She's got that right because according to the plan, the State of Illinois

will: Improve accountability, data tracking and reporting for

children’s mental

health in relevant programs and services and will (1) Institute

contract and

monitoring changes to increase the accountability of current

children’s mental

health providers; (2) Develop a statewide data tracking and reporting

system to

collect information on key indicators of children’s social and emotional

development, and mental health status; (3) Develop policies and

protocols for the

sharing of databases among relevant state and local agencies; (4)

Explore the

development of uniform reporting forms and test in select programs for the

tracking, reporting and planning of services.

 

Follow The Tax Dollars

 

The task force says it wants to maximize the use of Medicaid/KidCare by

streamlining enrollment, capitalizing on federal reimbursement and

implementing key

cost-saving strategies, with savings deposited into a Children’s Mental

Health Fund.

 

It wants to (1) Improve Medicaid reimbursement for prevention, early

intervention and treatment services; (2) Recognize diagnoses for young

children

described in DC:0-3 and pay for mental health services for children

with any of

these diagnoses; (3) Clarify for providers the diagnoses that create

eligibility

for children to obtain Medicaid services.

 

Translation: That means to make sure " treatment " (aka pills) will be paid

for, people will be trained to only diagnose kids with disorders that

are covered

Medicaid.

 

The task force plan leaves no funding stone unturned. It even wants to

" Change the Illinois KidCare and Medicaid eligibility procedures to

allow for

self-attestation of a family’s financial circumstances in lieu of

current financial

documentation requirements, " which means all I have to do is swear I'm

poor to

qualify for Medicaid in Illinois.

 

Drug companies smell the tax dollars and they want these Illinois

kids. Over

2 million children were enrolled in Illinois public schools, pre-K through

12th grade, during the 2001-02 school year. Over 960,000 children were

enrolled

in Medicaid and KidCare in 2002, and a recent study in Chicago claimed

that

nearly 50% of inner-city adolescents demonstrated signs and symptoms of

depression.

 

So lets do the math and see how much the psychiatric-industrial complex

stands to gain. The plans says to: Ensure that all children enrolled

in Medicaid

receive periodic developmental screens ... as mandated under the Early and

Periodic Screening Diagnostic Treatment program.

 

Lets say the initial diagnostic visit to the shrink costs $150, what's 150

times 960,000?

 

The report said 50% of Chicago inner city kids were depressed so we'll use

that percentage for the kids on Medicaid. Half of 960,000 means

480,000 kids are

set to be prescribed anti-psychotic drugs right from the get go.

 

Off hand I don't know how much all the different drugs cost, but I have

personal knowledge that the cost of Risperdal in 2001, was close to

$500 for a 30

day supply.

 

In 2001, The Miami Herald published a series of stories about the

common use

of Risperdal among children in state care. Child-welfare advocates

said the

drug routinely was being used by foster care providers as a ''chemical

restraint'' on children whose unruly behavior was a frustration to

caretakers.

 

Risperdal is on the IMAP list as the leading drug used to combat

schizophrenia and other types of psychotic disorders, and earns

Janssen about $2.1 billion

in annual sales. The drug is prescribed to more than 10 million people

worldwide, according to the Herald.

 

I suspect a heavy-duty calculator will be needed to calculate dollar

amounts

for the potential cost of Risperdal prescriptions to the tax payers of

Illinois.

 

Tax Payers May Foot Entire Bill

 

No doubt about it, the promoters of this scheme are looking to grab tax

dollars from every public trough known to man. The plan lists a host

of public

funding sources to be examined and includes: Medicaid and SCHIP, the

Social

Services Block Grant, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the

Child Care and

Development Fund, the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block

Grant,

Parts B (Special Education) and C (Early Intervention) of the

Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Juvenile Justice, and state funding

sources.

 

In her opinion piece, Karen Hayes questioned the feasibility of such a

large

public funded program, " Our government bureaucracies continue to

struggle with

the job of tending to the social needs of needy Illinois families, and ...

trying to educate our children in basic academics. How is it that

these same

bureaucracies can now be asked to take on the additional role of being

the mental

health evaluator and caretaker of all pregnant women and children in

Illinois? "

 

" At a time when budget concerns are on the front pages of most Illinois

newspapers, " Karen wrote, " we are being asked to give input to one of

the costliest

expansions of government and bureaucracy we have seen in recent years. "

 

" In summary, " Hayes said, " it is neither beneficial to children, nor to

taxpayers, to ask government bureaucracies to set competency standards

for mental

health. With some amount of lightheartedness, may I propose that the

mental

health of the perpetrators of this concept be evaluated? "

 

Another parent agrees with her. " The Illinois Legislature ought to

have their

own heads subjected to adolescent mental health screening for even

considering passing such legislation, " said Jack Kime, in a June 13,

2005 letter to the

Illinois Leader, " If there is anything more dangerous than having the

government put such a program in place, I don't know what it might

be, " he said.

 

 

 

 

*************

 

 

 

 

Evelyn Pringle epringle05

 

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

investigative

journalist focused on exposing government corruption)