Facebook launches offensive to combat misinformation on vaccines

Washington, Mar 8 Facebook launched an offensive Thursday to suppress the spread of misinformation about vaccines on the 2.3-billion-member social network.

The company has faced pressure in recent weeks to tackle the problem, amid outbreaks of measles around the United States attributed to growing numbers of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.

US lawmakers have decried the higher incidences of preventable diseases in the wake of a movement against child vaccination, in large part due to rumors they can cause health or developmental issues.

More >> Facebook launches offensive to combat misinformation on vaccines

Nearly 1 In 7 US Kids And Teens Have A Mental Health Condition — Half Go Untreated, Study Says

Half of children with a mental health condition in the United States go without treatment, according to a new study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

More >> Nearly 1 In 7 US Kids And Teens Have A Mental Health Condition — Half Go Untreated, Study Says

Unvaccinated Kids In Mass. Can Seek Immunization Without Parental Permission

More than 40 cases of measles, most in children under 10, have been reported in Washington State, largely because parents are not getting their kids vaccinated. Now unvaccinated children themselves are asking how they can get their shots without their parents’ consent.

More >> Unvaccinated Kids In Mass. Can Seek Immunization Without Parental Permission

Hong Kong government urged to give subsidies to families to treat ADHD, as affected kids face long wait in public health care

Carrie Ng, 49, said her jaw dropped when she learned that her 10-year-old daughter would not be able to have an appointment at the public Queen Mary Hospital’s children psychiatry division until 2020.

Ng’s first trip to the hospital was in July 2017, soon after her daughter had begun pulling her own hair and banging her head against walls.

More >> Hong Kong government urged to give subsidies to families to treat ADHD, as affected kids face long wait in public health care

Activists Protest the Drugging of Japanese Toddlers

TOKYO, January 3, 2019 (Newswire.com) - Members of the mental health watchdog Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) protested against psychiatrists for administering powerful psychotropic drugs to children.

Dozens of irate protesters took to the streets with bullhorns and banners at the annual congress of the Japanese Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Tokyo, demanding an end to the drugging of children. Among them was a mother whose son was prescribed three kinds of psychotropic drugs at the age of 3.

More >> Activists Protest the Drugging of Japanese Toddlers

Families use medical marijuana to treat autism

Some families are calling medical marijuana a miracle drug, after they've seen positive results when using it to treat autism in children.

New York has a strict list of qualifying conditions for a doctor to prescribe medical marijuana, and autism is not on the list.

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California teachers can pin students face down. Does the danger outweigh the benefit?

It’s a scenario that sounds more likely in jails than schools: Arms pulled behind their back, a person is forced into a “prone restraint,” pinned face down on the floor with limbs held immobile by at least two people.

But prone restraints are regularly used in California schools, often on students with special needs such as those on the autism spectrum — and at a higher rate on black students, an analysis of federal data by The Sacramento Bee found.

More >> California teachers can pin students face down. Does the danger outweigh the benefit?

If parents refuse to vaccinate their kids, should the state do it for them?

A leading ethicist says every child has a right to be vaccinated and protected against measles and other childhood infections

The Vaccine Information Network, an online community of like-minded parents who believe children are being “poisoned” by vaccines, recently posted a message describing measles as a mild and harmless disease that leaves a “stronger, healthier child in its wake.”

More >> If parents refuse to vaccinate their kids, should the state do it for them?

Mental Wellness Month: Millions of U.S. Children on Dangerous Psychiatric Drugs

With millions of U.S.children on psychiatric drugs it is imperative that families know that many of these drugs are known to result in suicidal ideation.

More >> Mental Wellness Month: Millions of U.S. Children on Dangerous Psychiatric Drugs

Critics Call Wisconsin’s Medicaid Fraud Crackdown 'Bullying'

Nurse Debra Zuhse-Green was stunned to learn the state of Wisconsin wanted her to repay $57,000 she had received for providing home care to children with significant medical needs.

An audit conducted in 2013 concluded Zuhse-Green should repay the state for six months of care to the children, who had complex health needs. The audit found she had not submitted claims for reimbursement to the family’s employer-based health plans — even though, Zuhse-Green said, "it had previously been established that the employer-based health plans would not cover the private duty nursing services."

More >> Critics Call Wisconsin’s Medicaid Fraud Crackdown 'Bullying'

Siblings of children with autism or ADHD are at elevated risk for both disorders

Later-born siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at elevated risk for both disorders, a new study led by Meghan Miller, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and at the UC Davis MIND Institute, has concluded. The findings appear today in JAMA Pediatrics.

The study suggests that families who already have a child diagnosed with ASD or ADHD may wish to monitor younger siblings for symptoms of both conditions.

More >> Siblings of children with autism or ADHD are at elevated risk for both disorders

Probe into death of student with autism finds school violated rules

A preliminary investigation into the death of a 13-year-old student with autism at a Northern California private school has found the school violated state rules when its staff put him in a face-down restraint position for nearly an hour. The California Department of Education found "sufficient evidence" that staffers at Guiding Hands School in El Dorado Hills violated multiple state rules governing how and when physical restraints can be used on students, the Sacramento Bee reported.

The boy, identified as Max Benson, became unresponsive while being held in a "prone restraint" for nearly an hour at the school on Nov. 28 and died a day later at UC Davis Medical Center.

More >> Probe into death of student with autism finds school violated rules

Number of Kentucky Kids Not Vaccinated Grows

Doctors are warning parents of the Hepatitis A outbreak across the state, and of measles. They are urging parents to have their children vaccinated, especially since more vaccines are required for children to go to school in the Commonwealth. However, there is an increasing number of children whose parents exempt them from immunizations, for medical and religious reasons. Doctors worry the number could be growing because of misinformation circulating online.

More >> Number of Kentucky Kids Not Vaccinated Grows

Family to sue over autism aid wait

A High Court judge has given the family of a four-year-old boy with autism leave to pursue aggravated damages against the HSE over its failure to deliver an assessment of need for him within the required timeframe.

The ex parte application for judicial review was made last Monday, seeking aggravated damages on behalf of the boy, and claiming that without the proper resources, there is a “serious risk that his development may be permanently affected”. It also hit out at the “futile” complaints mechanism and claims the HSE uses it as a “delaying tactic”.

More >> Family to sue over autism aid wait

Kelly unhappy with lack of psychiatric beds for children

Incoming Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she is "stunned" by a state agency's lack of response to a shortage of residential psychiatric beds for children needing care in the state.

During a meeting Tuesday of a task force studying the state's child welfare system, Kelly suggested she wants significant changes after she takes office in January, The Wichita Eagle reported .

More >> Kelly unhappy with lack of psychiatric beds for children

Report: Autism Rate Rises to 1 in 40 Children

A new government study finds that roughly 1 in 40 American children has autism, a huge jump from the previous estimate of 1 in every 59 children.

The survey asked parents of more than 43,000 children between the ages of 3 and 17 whether or not their children had ever been diagnosed with autism or an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and whether the child in question still struggled with an ASD.

More >> Report: Autism Rate Rises to 1 in 40 Children

Youngest Children In A Class Are Most Likely To Get ADHD Diagnosis

The youngest children in a school class are most likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, when in fact their comparatively fidgety behavior may be due to their relative immaturity, according to a study published online Wednesday.

Scientists from Harvard University probed the way ADHD is assessed by taking advantage of a quirk found in many U.S. school systems: There's a Sept. 1 cutoff for enrolling in kindergarten. That means children born in August get in just under the wire, while children with September birthdays have had to wait until the following school year to enroll.

More >> Youngest Children In A Class Are Most Likely To Get ADHD Diagnosis

‘It’s discrimination:’ Father calls 7-year-old’s questioning by police over CBD oil ‘an interrogation’

A 7-year-old was questioned by police at school because of suspected cannabidoil (CBD) use on Tuesday, Nov. 20 in West Bend. The boy's father runs "Laughing Grass Hemp" in West Allis. He said he's upset his son was questioned because CBD oil is completely legal.

"He had a debilitating, deadly seizure disorder," said Matthew Wetzel.

More >> ‘It’s discrimination:’ Father calls 7-year-old’s questioning by police over CBD oil ‘an interrogation’

School with high vaccine exemptions has N.C.'s worst chickenpox outbreak since 1995

A chickenpox outbreak at a private school now ranks as the state's largest since a vaccine for the virus became available more than 20 years ago, health officials say.

As of Friday, 36 students at Asheville Waldorf School had contracted the varicella virus, known to most as chickenpox. The school has one of the highest vaccination religious exemption rates in North Carolina.

More >> School with high vaccine exemptions has N.C.'s worst chickenpox outbreak since 1995

Family believes bullying, ADHD medication played role in 9-year-old girl's suicide

The parents of a 9-year-old Alabama girl who took her own life believe that bullying and ADHD medication played a role in her death.

According to AL.com, Madison “Maddie” Whittsett, of Birmingham, was pronounced dead at Children’s of Alabama Monday morning. The Friday before, her mother found her hanging in her bedroom closet.

More >> Family believes bullying, ADHD medication played role in 9-year-old girl's suicide