Most Preschoolers with ADHD Stay on Meds for Years

Most Preschoolers with ADHD Stay on Meds for Years

About 65% of preschool children who were diagnosed with ADHD and given stimulant drugs were still taking those drugs three and six years later, according to a study in Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. About 10% were also being prescribed an antipsychotic.

California Moves to Stop Parents From Avoiding Child Vaccinations

With Thursday’s vote to stop allowing parents to decline shots without a doctor’s permission, California legislators have taken the first step toward making vaccinations mandatory for kids before they go to school.

More >> California Moves to Stop Parents From Avoiding Child Vaccinations

ADHD in Preschoolers: Overmedicated and Undertreated

An estimated 194,000 toddlers and preschoolers (age 2-5 years) in the United States have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and about 1 in 2 of them is not receiving the recommended treatment according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yes, that is correct – about half of the young children diagnosed with ADHD are not receiving the appropriate treatment.

More >> ADHD in Preschoolers: Overmedicated and Undertreated

ADHD Medication: Scary Facts Many Parents Don't Know

I am a therapist in private practice so I regularly have parents coming to my office saying that they have a child who has ADHD. What to do? I want to make certain that parents get all the information before making a choice regarding their treatment plan. Too often parents only hear a limited part of this complex diagnosis and its treatment options.

More >> ADHD Medication: Scary Facts Many Parents Don't Know

Feds Pay for Drug Fraud: 92 Percent of Foster Care, Poor Kids Prescribed Antipsychotics Get Them for Unaccepted Uses

The release in late March of an alarming new report by federal investigators has confirmed in shocking new detail what has been known for years: Poor and foster care kids covered by Medicaid are being prescribed too many dangerous antipsychotic drugs at young ages for far too long -- mostly without any medical justification at all. The report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General examined in depth nearly 700 claims filed in 2011 in five of the biggest prescribing states -- California, Florida, Illinois, Texas and New York -- and discovered that two thirds of all the prescribing with these popular and costly "second generation antipsychotics" (SGAs) raised high-risk "quality of care" concerns.


More >> Feds Pay for Drug Fraud: 92 Percent of Foster Care, Poor Kids Prescribed Antipsychotics Get Them for Unaccepted Uses

The ADHD Fallacy: It’s Time To Stop Treating Childhood as a Disease

I met Aiden in 2008 when he was seven years old. The previous year, he had moved with his family from New York to California, and the transition had been difficult. He missed his friends in his old neighborhood and his cousins who had lived nearby. When I met with Aiden’s parents, Scott and Ava, they told me Aiden had always been a handful. Even as a baby Aiden was colicky and fussy, and difficult to put down to sleep. At two years old, he was more active than most of their friends’ children. Aiden’s preschool teachers had been concerned about his disruptive, impulsive behavior.

More >> The ADHD Fallacy: It’s Time To Stop Treating Childhood as a Disease

Thousands Of Families Demand Legal Medical Marijuana For Their Critically Ill Kids

Thousands of families of critically ill children and advocates for marijuana reform launched a national campaign Wednesday supporting the legalization of certain strains of cannabis oil that have shown therapeutic benefits.

More >> Thousands Of Families Demand Legal Medical Marijuana For Their Critically Ill Kids

California lawmaker plans to revive bill tightening vaccination rules

The author of a California bill to require school children to be vaccinated for such diseases as polio and measles regardless of their parents' personal beliefs said he would revive the measure, which stalled in the legislature last week.

More >> California lawmaker plans to revive bill tightening vaccination rules

More Than 1% of Preschoolers Given Psychiatric Medication

A surprisingly large number of preschool age children on Medicaid — more than 1% — are taking a psychiatric medication, a worrying finding given the lack of clinical trials on the effectiveness and side effects of the drugs in children this young.

More >> More Than 1% of Preschoolers Given Psychiatric Medication

Kids with ADHD must squirm to learn, study says

For decades, frustrated parents and teachers have barked at fidgety children with ADHD to "Sit still and concentrate!"

 But new research shows that if you want ADHD kids to learn, you have to let them squirm. The foot-tapping, leg-swinging and chair-scooting movements of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are actually vital to how they remember information and work out complex cognitive tasks, according to a study published in an early online release of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.

More >> Kids with ADHD must squirm to learn, study says

Australia to Cut Benefits for Parents Who Don’t Vaccinate Kids

"The choice made by families not to immunize their children is not supported by public policy or medical research," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said

More >> Australia to Cut Benefits for Parents Who Don’t Vaccinate Kids

California creates first guidelines for prescribing psych meds to foster youth

Three years after joining forces to address the alarming use of psychotropic medications in California's foster care system, a high-level group of health care officials, attorneys and public policy leaders on Friday unveiled a sweeping set of guidelines for doctors who prescribe the powerful drugs to some of the state's most traumatized children.

More >> California creates first guidelines for prescribing psych meds to foster youth

Family court gives pro-vaccination father decisionmaking authority over children’s medical care

ATTN: Religious People, do you think it's possible that God gave us these vaccines?

The case is a Connecticut trial court case, Archer v. Cassel (2015 WL 1500447), decided March 10; the court views the mother’s refusal to vaccinate as a strike against her, though it also seems to view it as part of broader evidence that the mother would use any tool to spite the father:

Note >> Family court gives pro-vaccination father decisionmaking authority over children’s medical care

Too Many Preschoolers Getting Medications for ADHD

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has just published its first national study on the various forms of treatment used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. The study examined the use of medication, behavioral therapy, and dietary supplements — and its results were eye-opening.

More >> Too Many Preschoolers Getting Medications for ADHD

Drugging Foster Kids: Let’s Do Something About It

Foster children are a lucrative market for psychotropic drug sales. Unlike adults, they can’t say “no, I won’t take any more of that drug.” Unlike children living with parents, their parents cannot say “I don’t like what that drug is doing.” Responsibility for prescribing is diffused confusingly among foster parents, caseworkers, child welfare supervisors, group home administrators, and prescribers. All are involved, but their roles in medication decisions are overlapping and ill-defined. It is easy for each to say, “it wasn’t my decision.

 More >> Drugging Foster Kids: Let’s Do Something About It

Study finds foster kids given wrong drug prescriptions

When federal inspectors set out to examine how powerful antipsychotic drugs were being used on children in the nation’s public health systems, they found a 4-year-old on four psychiatric drugs; a 10-year-old prescribed without medical records; and a 16-year-old on six psych meds, including a prescription at double the maximum recommended dosage.

More >> Study finds foster kids given wrong drug prescriptions

Pediatrics Group Says Schools Shouldn’t Drug Test

A leading U.S. pediatrics group is recommending against in-school drug testing as a way to prevent young people from experimenting with illegal substances.

More >> Pediatrics Group Says Schools Shouldn’t Drug Test

Federal study finds alarming use of antipsychotics among nation's poor children, foster kids

When federal inspectors set out to examine how powerful antipsychotic drugs were being used on children in the nation's public health systems, they found a 4-year-old on four psychiatric drugs, a 10-year-old prescribed without medical records, and a 16-year-old on six psych meds, including a prescription at double the maximum recommended dosage.

More >> Federal study finds alarming use of antipsychotics among nation's poor children, foster kids

Foster care kids put on too many psych drugs, report says

Many children in foster care are being overmedicated with antipsychotic drugs they may not really need, or the drugs are being given incorrectly, according to a government review obtained by CBS News.

Foster care kids put on too many psych drugs, report says

THE DRUGGING OF AMERICA'S YOUTH: ADHD DIAGNOSIS IS TOO SUBJECTIVE

The first writings about ADHD were attributed to Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann, who wrote a children’s book titled, “The Story of Fidgety Philip.” Since that time, there have been tens of thousands of papers describing impulsivity and hyperactivity in both children and adults.

More >> THE DRUGGING OF AMERICA'S YOUTH: ADHD DIAGNOSIS IS TOO SUBJECTIVE

Are doctors following best practice when prescribing antipsychotic meds to kids?

There’s been a lot of attention in the media about the number of children taking antipsychotic and other psychiatric medications. The assumption behind most of these stories is that these drugs are being overprescribed, and given to children with minor behavioral issues. A recent story in a European newspaper about the increased use of ADHD medications, for example, was headlined “Zombie Generation.” Yet the reality is there’s very little data to tell us the degree to which these medications are being used appropriately or not.

More >> Are doctors following best practice when prescribing antipsychotic meds to kids?

Parents, do you know who owns your children?

COMMUNITY Anti-vaccinating and free-roaming are two issues involving who has say over our children.

More >> Parents, do you know who owns your children?

The Drugging of Children in Foster Care

It's no secret that here in America, foster children are being prescribed psychiatric drugs, especially neuroleptics, as a means of controlling their behavior.  A great deal has been said and written on the matter.  Politicians have declared the practice deplorable.  Children's advocacy groups have expressed concern, and, of course, those of us in the antipsychiatry movement have screamed till we're hoarse.  But the problem persists.

More >> The Drugging of Children in Foster Care

Bills banning most vaccine exemptions fail in Oregon, Washington

Legislative efforts to increase pressure on parents to get their kids vaccinated failed in Oregon and Washington Wednesday amid stiff opposition as a handful of other statehouses consider similar bills prompted by a measles outbreak at Disneyland.

More >> Bills banning most vaccine exemptions fail in Oregon, Washington

Study finds 17% of college students misuse ADHD drugs

At college, students can come under a lot of pressure to achieve good results, but, unfortunately, a large number may be resorting to risky methods to deal with expectations. A recent literature review reports that 1 in 6 college students misuse stimulant medications prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

More >> Study finds 17% of college students misuse ADHD drugs

Parents take extreme steps to keep their kids from the unvaccinated

Bay Area mother formed a Facebook page where parents could arrange play dates for their children with other vaccinated youngsters. Another mom advocates socially isolating the unvaccinated by asking parents if their child is inoculated before accepting a birthday invitation, or even using the swings at the playground. And an Eagle Rock mom says she now asks about vaccine records when she buys used baby clothing.

More >> Parents take extreme steps to keep their kids from the unvaccinated

You just gotta love the helicopter parents, eh?

FSU opens new clinic to find positives of ADHD

A Florida State University researcher has opened a new clinic that will provide assessment and treatment services for Tallahassee-area families with children suspected of having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

More >> FSU opens new clinic to find positives of ADHD

Why Foster Youth Are Overmedicated

An recent article in the Los Angeles Times addressed what some suggest is the over-medication of children in the Los Angeles County foster care system. Certainly this is a significant issue, and indeed, if children are being overmedicated, it must be addressed.

More >> Why Foster Youth Are Overmedicated

Responding to reports of drugged foster youth, California lawmakers propose greater oversight

At a hearing Tuesday, California lawmakers will examine why the state's foster children are being prescribed psychiatric drugs at three times the rate of other youth.

More >> Responding to reports of drugged foster youth, California lawmakers propose greater oversight

More >> Hundreds more foster kids given drugs than first disclosed

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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