Mercury News editorial: Foster kids need legal protection against over-drugging

A wave of legislation about to hit the California Legislature on the alarming pattern of over-drugging foster children will require careful navigating. But it's heartening that lawmakers are anxious to deal with the problems described in heartbreaking detail over the past year by the Bay Area News Group's Karen de S.

More >> Mercury News editorial: Foster kids need legal protection against over-drugging

Drugging All The Little Children

Here is a link to a poem for you to ponder.

More >> Drugging All The Little Children

Towards a Ban on Psychiatrically Diagnosing and Drugging Children

Instead of hope and enthusiasm for their futures, too many children now grow up believing they are inherently defective, and controlled by bad genes and biochemical imbalances.  They are shackled by the idea that they have ADHD and then subdued by the drugs that inevitably go along with the diagnosis.  Unless something intervenes, many of them will go on to pass their days on Earth in a drug-impaired, demoralized state.

More >> Towards a Ban on Psychiatrically Diagnosing and Drugging Children

Antipsychotics in Kids: Best Practices Followed Half the Time

Physicians follow "best practice" guidelines when prescribing antipsychotics to children and adolescents only about half the time, with failure to monitor cholesterol and blood sugar levels their main misstep, new research shows.

More >> Antipsychotics in Kids: Best Practices Followed Half the Time

Why Are More Kids on Antipsychotics?

More children are being prescribed antipsychotic medications — drugs designed to treat such mental illnesses as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder — and pediatricians and psychiatrists at the University of Vermont conducted a study to find out why.

More >> Why Are More Kids on Antipsychotics?

Penn and Teller on Vaccinations

Jimmy Kimmel Mocks Anti-Vaccination Advocates With “A Child’s Right To Choose” Video

Jimmy Kimmel tackled the topic of whether or not to vaccinate children in a comedy bit on Monday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” The talk show host couldn’t be more clear that he absolutely thinks all children should get vaccinated, and that there’s no health risk to it. Kimmel said this “shouldn’t be a topic at all anymore.” After getting a tremendous backlash for a pro-vaxx stance PSA he aired last week, Kimmel sent out two anti-vaccine crusaders to push their agenda of a “child’s right to choose” whether they should or shouldn’t get vaccinated. Check out the video below!

More >> Jimmy Kimmel Mocks Anti-Vaccination Advocates With “A Child’s Right To Choose” Video

Almost all states allow religious exemptions for vaccinations, Massachusetts included

Most US states allow students and their families to opt out of vaccinations because of religious concerns, and Massachusetts is one of them, according to a recent Pew Research Center report.

More >> Almost all states allow religious exemptions for vaccinations, Massachusetts included

Oklahoma: Bill Intended to Protect ‘Conversion Therapy’ Advances

Legislation that would protect the practice of therapy that seeks to change people’s sexual orientation or gender identity was approved Tuesday by a State House committee. As other states ban or consider prohibiting so-called conversion therapy, the Children, Youth and Family Services Committee approved the bill 5 to 3 without debate and sent it to the full House. The measure will most likely face a tougher audience there, as medical, psychological and sociological organizations that have condemned the practice mobilize their opposition to it.

More >> Oklahoma: Bill Intended to Protect ‘Conversion Therapy’ Advances

Sales of ADHD Meds Are Skyrocketing. Here's Why.

Attention deficit hyperactive disorder is big business. That's the conclusion of a new report, published by the market research firm IBISWorld, which showed that ADHD medication sales have grown 8 percent each year since 2010 and will grow another 13 percent this year to $12.9 billion. Furthermore, it projects this growth will continue over the next five years at an annualized rate of 6 percent, and take in $17.5 billion in the year 2020—making it one of the top psychopharmaceutical categories on the market.

More >> Sales of ADHD Meds Are Skyrocketing. Here's Why.

Policies guide use of restraint and seclusion

The bill would require the Virginia Department of Education to develop regulations consistent with 15 principles developed by the U.S. Department of Education; include definitions of terms, criteria for use, restrictions for use, requirements for training, notification, reporting and follow-up; and address distinctions, including distinctions in emotional and physical development, between the general student population and the special education student population, and elementary school students and secondary school students, according to the bill, the AP and other sources.

More: Policies guide use of restraint and seclusion

Even More: School officials weigh in on seclusion and restraint bill

Hair drug tests: A mother’s anguish over losing her girls

An unknown number of parents lost their children based, in part, on the Sick Kids’ hair drug tests now under review. Christine Rupert is one of them.

More >> Hair drug tests: A mother’s anguish over losing her girls

Use of Medication On Foster Youth Investigated

Democratic Senator Jim Beall says nearly a quarter of adolescents in the California foster care system are being prescribed mood or behavior altering drugs. And he says it’s not clear who is in charge of tracking the medications foster children take.

More >> Use of Medication On Foster Youth Investigated

Backlash against calls to deny subsidies to parents of unimmunised children

Service providers have rejected a recommendation by the Productivity Commission that parents who refuse to vaccinate their children should be cut off from childcare benefits.

More >> Backlash against calls to deny subsidies to parents of unimmunised children

ADHD medication revenue is up: report

ADHD diagnosis rates are soaring — and with them, medication prescriptions.

The ADHD Medication Manufacturing Industry, a trade group, is expecting 13% growth in revenue this year, according to the latest numbers. By 2020, ADHD meds are expected to be a $17.5 billion industry.
More >> ADHD medication revenue is up: report 

Rampant medication use found among L.A. County foster, delinquent kids

Los Angeles County officials are allowing the use of powerful psychiatric drugs on far more children in the juvenile delinquency and foster care systems than they had previously acknowledged, according to data obtained by The Times through a Public Records Act request.

More >> Rampant medication use found among L.A. County foster, delinquent kids

Children with history of institutional care have increased risk for autism, shows study

Study published in JAACAP shows that abandoned children placed in child-centered foster care environments improves social behaviors

More >> Children with history of institutional care have increased risk for autism, shows study

Family endures bullying, threats for unvaccinated child, Utah mom says

The national debate over measles and vaccines has been in the headlines a lot lately and is becoming very personal for one Utah mom.

More >> Family endures bullying, threats for unvaccinated child, Utah mom says

State Report Shows Pressing Need to Understand Bad Behavior in Schools

Imagine walking into your young child's classroom and seeing him on the floor, his hands behind his back, as if he was being arrested. This is what happened to Lisbeth Ehrlich in Darien.

More >> State Report Shows Pressing Need to Understand Bad Behavior in Schools

Lawyer wants judge to order measles shots for 4 children

A court-appointed attorney for four children removed from their parents' care asked a Michigan judge on Wednesday to order measles vaccinations for the children against the wishes of their parents, who are trying to regain custody in an ongoing child neglect case.

More >> Lawyer wants judge to order measles shots for 4 children

Rand Paul: Parents 'own' children, not the state

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) doubled down on his position that most vaccines should be voluntary, suggesting Monday that mandated immunization is an example of government overreach.

More >> Rand Paul: Parents 'own' children, not the state

Vaccine Critics Turn Defensive Over Measles

Their children have been sent home from school. Their families are barred from birthday parties and neighborhood play dates. Online, people call them negligent and criminal. And as officials in 14 states grapple to contain a spreading measles outbreak that began near here at Disneyland, the parents at the heart of America’s anti-vaccine movement are being blamed for incubating an otherwise preventable public-health crisis.

More >> Vaccine Critics Turn Defensive Over Measles

Doctors dropping unvaccinated children as patients

With California gripped by a measles outbreak, Dr. Charles Goodman posted a clear notice in his waiting room and on Facebook: His practice will no longer see children whose parents won’t get them vaccinated.

More >> Doctors dropping unvaccinated children as patients

Dying child takes cannabis oil for cancer symptoms, dad arrested for drugging child

In Australia, Adam Koessler, the father of a very sick little girl has been separated from his daughter and faces possible jail time.

More >> Dying child takes cannabis oil for cancer symptoms, dad arrested for drugging child

“Generation Rx”—The Boom of Baby Drugging

In its ever-intrusive quest to “help” those suffering from alleged mental illnesses, the psychiatric industry has deliberately targeted the weakest among us—literally babies—creating an entire generation dependent on toxic, brain-damaging drugs. The extent of the psycho/pharmacological assault is profound.

More >> “Generation Rx”—The Boom of Baby Drugging

Sick kids should only get medical marijuana when other treatments fail, pediatrics group says

With virtually no hard proof that medical marijuana benefits sick children, and evidence that it may harm developing brains, the drug should only be used for severely ill kids who have no other treatment option, the nation's most influential pediatricians group says in a new policy.

More >> Sick kids should only get medical marijuana when other treatments fail, pediatrics group says

Bill would strengthen law to avoid seclusion or restraint of special-ed students in schools

Rep. Gerry Pollet says a state law that prohibits special-ed students from being restrained or secluded unless others are in imminent physical danger needs to be strengthened. Parents who urged him to introduce a bill that will do just that will testify at a hearing Monday.

More >> Bill would strengthen law to avoid seclusion or restraint of special-ed students in schools

Missouri foster children are given higher-than-average amounts of psychiatric drugs

Numbers defined life in Missouri's foster care system for 15-year-old Mohannad. Nineteen psychologists. Five psychiatrists. Eleven different drugs. Six foster homes. Five hospitalizations.

More >> Missouri foster children are given higher-than-average amounts of psychiatric drugs

Ritalin vs. Recess: Are Drugs Really the Answer to the ADHD Epidemic?

Ritalin vs. Recess: Are Drugs Really the Answer to the ADHD Epidemic?

By robbing kids of time to act like kids, then opting for medication over therapy, we may be undertaking a giant, uncontrolled experiment on the brains of children.

EDITORIAL: Drugs in the Classroom, Part Three

We have, here in America, two somewhat extreme positions on the subject of drugging school children when they have been diagnosed as suffering from certain personality characteristics currently referred to as “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder” or ADHD.

More >> EDITORIAL: Drugs in the Classroom, Part Three

EDITORIAL: Drugs in the Classroom, Part Four

I plan to attend the 5pm work session of the Archuleta School Board this evening, Tuesday January 13, when the board will discuss a “Strategic Framework” of proposed educational improvements developed by superintendent Linda Reed and her staff. This Framework has been under development for over a year, but I believe the document posted to the School Board website yesterday — which you can download here — is the first opportunity the board (or the public) has had to see all of the proposed changes in one, coherent, 45-page summary.

More >> EDITORIAL: Drugs in the Classroom, Part Four

EDITORIAL: Drugs in the Classroom, Part Two

It was obvious to me that the cartoon map used in the 12-minute RSA (Royal Society for the Arts) YouTube video was less than perfectly accurate. For one thing, some of the U.S. states were not present, or were very poorly drawn. But then, cartoons are always abstractions.

More >> EDITORIAL: Drugs in the Classroom, Part Two

Mind-altering Medication: Attention Hyperactivity Deficit Disorder (ADHD) Drugs Greatly Decrease Academic Performance in Children

Children who take mind-altering medications like Ritalin (methylphenidate) and Adderall (amphetamine and dextroamphetamine) for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been shown in a new peer-reviewed study to perform worse in school than if they weren’t taking the substances at all.

More >> Mind-altering Medication: Attention Hyperactivity Deficit Disorder (ADHD) Drugs Greatly Decrease Academic Performance in Children

Texas doctors rarely charged in prescription abuse

Many Texas doctors who violate prescription drug laws have little to fear from prosecutors, even when their patients die of an overdose.

More >> Texas doctors rarely charged in prescription abuse

Children’s Psychology : How to Treat ADHD Naturally

Treating ADHD naturally requires pinpointing the behavioral triggers and addressing those triggers without medication. Treat hyperactivity sans medication with information from a licensed clinical psychologist in this free video on emotional and mental health.

More >> Children’s Psychology : How to Treat ADHD Naturally

Texas Doctors Rarely Face Charges in Prescription Abuse Cases

Many Texas doctors who violate prescription drug laws have little to fear from prosecutors, even when their patients die of an overdose.

More >> Texas Doctors Rarely Face Charges in Prescription Abuse Cases

What Does Santa Think About ADHD Drugs?

According to sources at the North Pole, Santa is not happy about the growing use of ADHD drugs. As you know, long ago, he had made his list and checked it twice.

More >> What Does Santa Think About ADHD Drugs?

Maine legislators seek to boost immunizations

At least three proposals for the upcoming Maine legislative session aim to lower the number of parents opting out of immunizations.

More >> Maine legislators seek to boost immunizations

UK Pre-school Kids Are Given "Chemical Cosh" Drugs To Curb Hyperactivity

A survey by the Division of Educational and Child Psychologists at the British Psychological Society, a representative body for psychology in the UK, found that children as young as two years old were being given "chemical cosh" drugs, a term given for a strong sedative, to keep a control on hyperactivity. The survey involved 136 psychologists in 70 local authorities in the UK.

More >> UK Pre-school Kids Are Given "Chemical Cosh" Drugs To Curb Hyperactivity

and More >> Preschool kids in Britain given ADHD drugs

and More >> The children of two on drugs for hyperactivity: Psychologists warn health workers are going 'straight to medication' instead of offering therapy or support for parents

Drugging Children Is Big Business For The Psychiatric Industry

Twenty million children worldwide are labeled with "mental disorders" that are based solely on a checklist of behaviors. Practice labeled child abuse.

More >> Drugging Children Is Big Business For The Psychiatric Industry

Concern over pre-school ADHD drugs

More than a fifth of school psychologists in England know of children under the age of six who have been prescribed ADHD drugs to treat behavioural problems despite it being against health guidelines, a study has found.

More >> Concern over pre-school ADHD drugs

ADHD drugs increasingly prescribed to treat hyperactivity in pre-schoolers

An “alarming” number of pre-school children are being prescribed drugs to treat hyperactivity – contrary to medical guidelines that say they should not be used on children under six – because overstretched health workers go straight to medication rather than offering psychological interventions.

More >> ADHD drugs increasingly prescribed to treat hyperactivity in pre-schoolers

Drugging our kids: A bold step away from heavy medication

Drugging our kids: A bold step away from heavy medication

After a decade in California foster care, Yolanda had become so medicated with psychiatric drugs, she practically lost the ability to speak.

Rate of Prescribing Psychotropic Drugs to Kentucky Children Studied at UofL

Researchers with the Child and Adolescent Health Research Design and Support Unit at the University of Louisville have begun a study to examine one of Kentucky's most vexing children's health issues: the higher-than-average rate of psychotropic medication being prescribed to children in the Bluegrass State.

More >> Rate of Prescribing Psychotropic Drugs to Kentucky Children Studied at UofL

Drug Companies: Stop Drugging Our Kids For Acting Like Kids!

It’s a funny old world! We put people in prison for selling amphetamine and cocaine , but allow drug companies to ‘deal’ ritalin to our children… 4.5 million children in the USA. Ritalin, like amphetamine and cocaine, is a Schedule II drug and has similar neurochemical effects in that it enhances dopamine function. This hypocrisy – and the damage it is doing to our children – disgusts me.

More >> Drug Companies: Stop Drugging Our Kids For Acting Like Kids!

Global Increase in ADHD Diagnoses Due to Drug Company Marketing and Lobbying, Study Shows

Like many other so-called “behavioral” disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a completely fabricated condition that was invented for the sole purpose of turning normal behavioral variances into “diseases” that require costly drug interventions. This crafty pharmaceutical scam is now spreading around the world, according to a new study, with drug companies effectively lobbying foreign governments to loosen their marketing restrictions on mind-altering drug treatments in order to get more people hooked on legal drugs.

More >> Global Increase in ADHD Diagnoses Due to Drug Company Marketing and Lobbying, Study Shows

Prof. Conrad studies medicalization of ADHD

“I was the kind of kid who would get up and walk around, look at the goldfish, read the encyclopedias in the back of the room, talk to neighbors,” Peter Conrad, a professor of sociology, said in regard to his childhood. “Had ADHD been an option as a diagnosis in the ’50s, which it wasn’t, I would have been probably labeled and gotten a trial and medications.”

More >> Prof. Conrad studies medicalization of ADHD

Foster youth drugged

Doctors wooed by Big Pharma are over-prescribing medication to foster children

Foster youth drugged

Rate of prescribing psychotropic drugs to Kentucky kids studied

Researchers with the Child and Adolescent Health Research Design and Support Unit (CAHRDS Unit) at the University of Louisville have begun a study to examine one of Kentucky's most vexing children's health issues: the higher-than-average rate of psychotropic medication being prescribed to children in the Bluegrass State.

More >> Rate of prescribing psychotropic drugs to Kentucky kids studied

Regulation needed to curb overpricing of drugs for children, say advocates

Scrutiny of doctors who prescribe psychotropic drugs to California foster children intensified this week, with growing calls for regulators to consider whether financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies may be driving the excessive use of medication.

More >> Regulation needed to curb overpricing of drugs for children, say advocates

Watchdog calls for tighter regulation on foster care prescriber relationships with drug companies

Scrutiny of doctors who prescribe psychotropic drugs to California foster children intensified Monday, with growing calls for regulators to consider whether financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies may be driving the excessive use of medication.

More >> Watchdog calls for tighter regulation on foster care prescriber relationships with drug companies

Drugging our kids: RX alliance rewards doctors as drug companies get richer

Olivia Hernandez always trusted the doctors who scribbled out prescription after prescription for the heavy-duty psychiatric drugs that clouded her teenage years in foster care.

More >> Drugging our kids: RX alliance rewards doctors as drug companies get richer

Drugging our kids: RX alliance rewards doctors as drug companies get richer

Olivia Hernandez always trusted the doctors who scribbled out prescription after prescription for the heavy-duty psychiatric drugs that clouded her teenage years in foster care.

Drugging our kids: RX alliance rewards doctors as drug companies get richer

Medicare Now Covers Genetic Tests for Targeting Depression Drugs

An oral swab test that gives doctors an easy-to-read report to help guide decisions about prescribing depression medications is now available to 50 million Americans on Medicare.

More Medicare Now Covers Genetic Tests for Targeting Depression Drugs

ADHD Surge Is More Marketing Than Medicine

You can't catch attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but you wouldn't know that by the way diagnoses are spreading - up 10X in some countries. 
More >> ADHD Surge Is More Marketing Than Medicine

How A Nuisance Ordinance Could Threaten Housing for Current, Former Foster Youth

How A Nuisance Ordinance Could Threaten Housing for Current, Former Foster Youth

The Oakland City Council’s unanimous adoption of an amended Nuisance Eviction Ordinance (NEO) threatens the stability of some of our most vulnerable current and former foster youth, particularly those who have been or are currently victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

Vaccine court keeps claimants waiting

A system Congress established to speed help to Americans harmed by vaccines has instead heaped additional suffering on thousands of families, The Associated Press has found.

More >> Vaccine court keeps claimants waiting

ADHD Spurred by Schools?

Can a four-year old child in kindergarten “fall behind” in learning two weeks after starting school? According to notes being sent home from teachers in New York City to mothers of these youngsters, yes. Today children are being asked to learn more, perform better, rank higher and qualify sooner than their counterparts 10, 20, 30 years ago, and it shows. Is the startling number of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in fact spurred by schools today?

More >> ADHD Spurred by Schools?

Schools Deal with Behavior Problems

Virginia schools are increasingly confronted with youth who exhibit challenging behavior.

And while schools sometimes use physical restraint and seclusion to de-escalate a crisis, the state does not have any explicit laws or regulations that govern their use.

More >> Schools Deal with Behavior Problems

Most Parents Agree All Kids in Day Care Should Be Vaccinated

About three-quarters of parents would consider removing their childfrom a day care center if some of the other kids there were unvaccinated, a new survey found.

More >> Most Parents Agree All Kids in Day Care Should Be Vaccinated

Why We Need to Abandon the Disease-Model of Mental Health Care

The idea that our more distressing emotions such as grief and anger can best be understood as symptoms of physical illnesses is pervasive and seductive. But in my view it is also a myth, and a harmful one. Our present approach to helping vulnerable people in acute emotional distress is severely hampered by old-fashioned, inhumane and fundamentally unscientific ideas about the nature and origins of mental health problems. We need wholesale and radical change, not only in how we understand mental health problems, but also in how we design and commission mental health services.

More >> Why We Need to Abandon the Disease-Model of Mental Health Care

More than 100,000 anti-psychotic scripts written for KIDS last year

An unprecedented number of children are being prescribed strong anti-psychotic medication, sometimes by doctors who have little experience in dealing with child psychiatric experience.

New figures revealed by the ABC show that more than 100,000 scripts were written for children around Australian for such medications in the past year.

More >> More than 100,000 anti-psychotic scripts written for KIDS last year 

Day care druggings spark call for change; investigation shows provider violated law for years

Lawmakers and children’s advocates are calling for a crackdown on illegal day cares after an Indianapolis provider who’d been cited repeatedly for violations pleaded guilty to drugging children in her care.

More >> Day care druggings spark call for change; investigation shows provider violated law for years

Curb ADD without drugging up your kid

Food can be medicine if done right.

Curb ADD without drugging up your kid

Prenatal Air Pollution Levels Linked to ADHD in Kids

Kids who are exposed to the highest levels of air pollution before birth have a greater risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms than their less exposed peers, according to new research.

More >> Prenatal Air Pollution Levels Linked to ADHD in Kids

Pediatricians Cutting Corners in Diagnosing and Treating ADHD

Previous research has shown that behavior therapy, combined with medication, is the best approach for treating ADHD. Yet a new study shows that physicians fail to assess symptoms thoroughly before making an ADHD diagnosis and rely too heavily on medication to treat it.

More >> Pediatricians Cutting Corners in Diagnosing and Treating ADHD

Typical ADHD care leaves room for improvement, study finds

Many pediatricians provide inadequate care for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), relying too heavily on drugs and failing to thoroughly assess kids' symptoms, a new study reports. 

More >> Typical ADHD care leaves room for improvement, study finds

Psych drugs may harm more than help, author says

Before rushing to medicate people with mental illness, award-winning investigative journalist and author Robert Whitaker advocates another look at what 50 years of research shows: long-term harm may outweigh short-term benefit.

More >> Psych drugs may harm more than help, author says

The Drugging of Child Soldiers

At a time when most kids would be learning algebra, China Keitetsi was already an experienced warrior with many lives on her conscience. Now 27, the former child soldier joined the National Resistance Army in Uganda in the 1980’s, when she was nine years old. There, she was given her fist Uzi. “They gave us weapons, made us fight their war, made us hate, kill, torture, and made us their girlfriends; we had no choice… When I was 14, I gave birth to my son, and when I was 15 years old, I couldn’t count how many officers had already used my body,” she told BBC News earlier this year.

More >> The Drugging of Child Soldiers

Could Psychiatric Care Be Causing Suicides?

What is the reason that people are 44.3 times more likely to commit suicide if they’ve visited a psychiatric hospital within the year? AlterNet has published a commentary by Mad In America News Editor Rob Wipond, discussing the implications of a recent Danish study that either found the best predictors of suicide ever identified, or the worst causes of suicide ever identified.

More >> Could Psychiatric Care Be Causing Suicides?

Babies born through Caesarean section more likely to develop autism, researchers claim

Babies born through Caesarean section are more likely to develop autism, Irish researchers have claimed.

More >> Babies born through Caesarean section more likely to develop autism, researchers claim

HARRINGTON: Adderall inauthenticity

Recently, Viewpoint Writer Hasan Khan advocated the legalization of Adderall for academic use, suggesting that neuroenhancers are the next logical step in harnessing technology to improve our lives. He argued that side effects of Adderall are rare with typical use, its performance-enhancing effects do not create competitive unfairness as do steroids in athletics and legalization would eventually lead to a drop in prices, making Adderall accessible to all. Yesterday, Brennan Edel addressed some flaws in that argument. I take issue another one of Khan’s assumptions. When Khan concludes, “only by decriminalizing neuroenhancers will society enter a new era of productivity,” he implies that such a new era is desirable for humanity. I disagree.

HARRINGTON: Adderall inauthenticity

Mental Health Watchdog Applauds Vatican’s Investigation Into Psychiatric Drugging of Children

The mental health watchdog Citizens Commission on Human Rights applauds the Vatican for launching an investigation into the harmful effects of prescription psychiatric drugs. The conference brings together professionals to discuss the harmful consequences of overusing psychiatric drugs for treating mental and emotional disorders in children, as well as how a similar trend is hurting pregnant mothers

More >> Mental Health Watchdog Applauds Vatican’s Investigation Into Psychiatric Drugging of Children

Educators' misguided belief in 'neuromyths' hinders children's learning, expert says

I’ve noted here before how certain pop-psychology assertions about the brain stubbornly persist, despite being thoroughly debunked by scientists. A 2013 survey found, for example, that 65 percent of Americans still believe in the 80-year-old bogus notion (reinforced this year, unfortunately, by the sci-fi thriller “Lucy”) that humans use only 10 percent of their brain’s capacity.

More >> Educators' misguided belief in 'neuromyths' hinders children's learning, expert says

Parents struggle to find mental health services for children

Kathy Peters’ son was 4 years old the first time he tried to kill his little brother.

More >> Parents struggle to find mental health services for children

Raising children suffering from ADHD

Dealing with a child who suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can be tricky to deal with. But certainly not impossible. Parents should brace themselves for tantrums, arguments, hyperactivity and mood swings — all classic symptoms of ADHD. Here are some tips for parents on raising children who have ADHD.

More >> Raising children suffering from ADHD

More Than Symptoms at Play in Prescribing ADHD Meds to Kids

New research shows that low maternal education increases the likelihood that a child with ADHD will receive medication, whereas immigrant status decreases the odds.

More >> More Than Symptoms at Play in Prescribing ADHD Meds to Kids

Sample of child patients to test medical marijuana at MUSC

A small group of young patients will make history in South Carolina, testing a CBD extract, or a form of medical marijuana. CBD stands for Cannabidiol.

Sample of child patients to test medical marijuana at MUSC

Sulforaphane Can Help to Control Behavioral Problems Associated With Autism: Study

A latest study has suggested that a chemical present in broccoli sprout can help with behavioral problems in some people with autism.

More >> Sulforaphane Can Help to Control Behavioral Problems Associated With Autism: Study

Drugging Children—Did You Know?

Stop telling pregnant women to go off their antidepressants

Every few months, pregnant women hear another scare story about antidepressant use: The drugs have been linked to birth defects,autism and lung problems in babies. These studies make it seem like giving up antidepressants during pregnancy is the only option, even though it might cost women their health and ability to function.

More >> Stop telling pregnant women to go off their antidepressants

Don't do drugs.

University of Michigan study identifies different types of early child problems

A toddler who doesn't feel guilty after misbehaving or who is less affectionate or less responsive to affection from others might not raise a red flag to parents, but these behaviors may result in later behavior problems in 1st grade.

Read More >> University of Michigan study identifies different types of early child problems

DCF: Redesign children’s mental health system

Connecticut’s child welfare agency issued an ambitious proposal to redesign the publicly financed children’s behavioral health system, calling the existing system “broken” and identifying the need for more services and better access to care.

More >> DCF: Redesign children’s mental health system

Another family to flee N.J. over medical marijuana

A nurse who has staged weekly protests about New Jersey's troubled medical marijuana program is joining an exodus of families with ill children for Colorado.

More >> Another family to flee N.J. over medical marijuana

Psych Meds and Foster Youth: Alameda County California takes on a National Issue

On September 29, around 50 foster youth advocates and mental health professionals crowded into a conference room in Alameda County California’s Behavioral Health Care Services (BHCS) building to discuss the steps the county can take to reduce the overmedication of children in foster care.

Read More >> Psych Meds and Foster Youth: Alameda County California takes on a National Issue

One in four kids on ADHD meds gets therapy too

Most kids in the U.S. who take medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are not getting behavioral counseling therapy as well, according to a new study.

More >> One in four kids on ADHD meds gets therapy too

D’ANTHONY’S STORY

D’ANTHONY’S STORY

Foster care was a life of mind-numbing medications, head-spinning moves and, ultimately, heart-wrenching loneliness — until one adult finally listened and helped him realize there might be a better path

Drugging Our Kids: California calls for new checks on psych meds for foster kids

In a significant step toward curbing the overuse of psychiatric drugs in California's foster care system, doctors will soon be required to get extra authorization to prescribe antipsychotics, a new safeguard to protect some of the state's most overmedicated children.

More >> Drugging Our Kids: California calls for new checks on psych meds for foster kids

Medical marijuana: N.J. child improves as family finds fewer roadblocks in Colorado

The Wilson family left behind their home in Scotch Plains, their family and friends and everything familiar for a moment like this.

More >> Medical marijuana: N.J. child improves as family finds fewer roadblocks in Colorado

A Father's Tale---Forced drugging of his child!

This is the real-life story of one father who has done all he can do to protect his son from the FDA listed side effects, such as hallucinations, delusions, mania, suicidal thoughts and more. His story is one that will surprise you and will open your eyes to our current day world of mental health.

Drugging Our Kids: California calls for new checks on psych meds for foster kids

In a significant step toward curbing the overuse of psychiatric drugs in California's foster care system, doctors will soon be required to get extra authorization to prescribe antipsychotics, a new safeguard to protect some of the state's most overmedicated children.

More >> Drugging Our Kids: California calls for new checks on psych meds for foster kids

How Many Emergency Department Visits Are Due to Adverse Events from Psychiatric Medications?

How Many Emergency Department Visits Are Due to Adverse Events from Psychiatric Medications? 

Psychiatric medications are the cause of a significant number of adverse drug events (ADEs) treated in US emergency department (ED) visits, according to a paper published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Exercise before school day may reduce ADHD symptom severity

Physical activity may reduce symptom severity and moodiness and improve peer functioning among children at risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the home and school domain, according to study findings in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.

More >> Exercise before school day may reduce ADHD symptom severity

CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM OF CARE EXPANSION

Nevada wants to get more kids on psych meds apparently.

CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM OF CARE EXPANSION

These are the 12 drugs sending the most kids to the emergency room

Every year, more than 70,000 kids are taken to the emergency room because they accidentally overdosed on a medication, and most of those kids were less than 2 years old.

Mote >> These are the 12 drugs sending the most kids to the emergency room

Despite Warnings, Antibiotics Still Overprescribed in Kids

Despite warnings from public health experts that overprescribing antibiotics could lead to difficult-to-treat “superbugs,” doctors are prescribing antibiotics to children about twice as often as they are actually needed, a new study found.

More >> Despite Warnings, Antibiotics Still Overprescribed in Kids

Religious orders allowed over 2,000 Irish children to be used in medical experiments

More than 2000 Irish children in religious run homes were subjected to drugs trials in the 1930s according to a shocking new report.

Religious orders allowed over 2,000 Irish children to be used in medical experiments

Congress Asks Why Foster Children Take More Mental Health Meds Than Other Kids

Foster children are medicated with psychotropic drugs at a rate much higher than are other kids, and lawmakers want to know what's to blame: more mental health needs or a problem of overmedication, as advocates and former foster kids have alleged.

Congress Asks Why Foster Children Take More Mental Health Meds Than Other Kids

Drug Firms Have Used Dangerous Tactics to Drive Sales to Treat Kids

There is big money to be made in prescribing medications to kids – especially when those medications are intended to be taken for life, as many psychotropic drugs are.

Drug Firms Have Used Dangerous Tactics to Drive Sales to Treat Kids