New Canaan
Advertiser
By Sara
Poirier
Front
Page, Thursday, April 29, 2004
Mother
pushing government to probe psychiatric drugs
A New Canaan resident is on
the front lines of State and Federal probes into what she says amounts to the
secret and forced drugging of children.
Sheila
Matthews is national vice president of Ablechild.org: Parents for Label and Drug
Free Education, which advocates for informed consent and the right to refuse
psychotropic drugs for children.
Ms.
Matthews said Ablechild is trying to aid Connecticut’s investigation into its
mental health care system for children remanded into State care, as well as get
the Federal Child Medication Safety Act made into law.
All
this, Ms. Matthews told the Advertiser, while the Federal government is
investigating the Food and Drug Administration and allegations that case study
information linking suicide deaths to certain prescription antidepressants was
withheld by drug companies.
On
the State front, Ms. Matthews said Ablechild is concerned that a conclusion had
already been made prior to the start of a joint investigation, announced March
3, involving Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Child Advocate
Jeanne M. Milstein, into the Department of Children and Families, its private
contractors, insurance companies and HMOs.
“The
reason for this investigation is the rising number of children with mental
illness who are denied adequate health care and confined in emergency rooms,
shelters, juvenile detention facilities and out-of-state institutions,” a
press release from Mr. Blumenthal’s office said. “Not just DCF, but private
insurers deserve scrutiny, because they are shirking their responsibility to pay
for mental health care and shifting the costs to taxpayers.”
The
investigation, while a positive step in the eyes of Ablechild is not all that is
seems, Ms. Matthews warned.
“(Mr.
Blumenthal’s) press release reflected a conclusion that more mental health
services are needed and insurance companies need to pay for these mental health
services,” a letter from Ms. Matthews to Assistant Attorney General Tom Ryan
said. “This concerns our national
parent organization since the question is not the quantity of mental health
services but the quality and nature of the services, especially when children
are misdiagnosed or over-diagnosed with mental illness they do not have and are
prescribed controversial drugs that they do not need.”
Ms.
Matthews told the Advertiser that she and Ablechild are also concerned that the
mental health vendors supplying services to the State, ValueOptions and
TrialStar, own other companies that solicit people for drug trials.
She is concerned about the possible conflict of interest and feels that
should also be investigated.
Mr.
Blumenthal told the Advertiser that the allegations made by Ms. Matthews in her
letter to Mr. Ryan – which included children in State care being given drugs
not approved for children by the FDA, not giving proper informed consent and
being used in drug trials would be looked at as part of the investigation.
“Quantity
and quality are inevitably and inextricably linked,” he said. “We’re going
to investigate these issues with the Child Advocate.”
Ms.
Matthews said that the State asked for confidential case studies about children
mandated into State care whose parents have come to Ablechild for advocacy, not
having legal representation to pursue complaints against the State’s DCF.
“Ablechild.org
does not want to jeopardize their ability to pursue legal action; and we do not
represent their legal interest,” the letter added. Therefore, we have
encouraged them to seek legal guidance and feel it is inappropriate to supply
the State with the requested documents.”
Our
children are not Republicans or Democrats; they’re children.” Ms. Matthews
told the Advertiser Monday, April 5.
“We’re
not against any person using any kind of drugs they want on their children.”
She said, but Ablechild does believe children have the constitutional right to
full informed consent and the right to refuse treatment and psychological
services.”
“Our
organization has been stalled, been misled by the Attorney General’s office on
their commitment to this investigation,” Ms. Matthews contended Monday, April
19. “We want to be included in this investigation and it’s really important,
and we want to be involved in the safety of our children.”
Ms.
Matthews said that she faxed an Ablechild press release, “When the State Takes
Your Child”, to the Ms. Milstein’s office on Friday, April 16, to further
support her cause. The release outlines the case of Chucky Asplund, who was
mandated into State care in March 2000, and remained there until August 2001
because his parents refused to administer behavioral drugs to him when his
school diagnosed him as emotionally disturbed and with attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The
release said that Chucky was given Wellbutrin, Haldol, Ativan and Risperdal –
all drugs not approved by the FDA for children – while under the State’s
care.
Mr.
Blumenthal said in addition to the items identified by Ms. Matthews, the proper
role of legal guardians of children in State-mandated care in consenting to
medication use would also be looked at.
The
Child Medication Safety Act, which Ablechild supports, would be a big step for
the organization, Ms. Matthews said while discussing State investigation.
The
bill, which cleared the House of Representatives, if passed by the Senate would
prohibit school officials from requiring children to take a psychotropic drug to
remain at school.
Ms.
Matthews said she thought the reason for the delay of the legislation was “due
to the special interests of the psychiatric industry”, she also said that when
she asked Sen. Christopher Dodd to co-sponsor the act to help get it through the
Senate, he “refused”.
A
statement from Ryan McGinn, spokesman for Sen. Dodd, said: “Sen. Dodd does not
support the coerced medication of children and believes that medical decisions
concerning children should be made by their parents in consultation with their
doctors. If the Senate Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hold hearings on this bill, he will
consider it with these beliefs in mind.”
Sen.
Dodd has a part of past bills that aid in preventing misuse of drugs for
children, including the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act and Pediatric
Research Equity Act of 2003. The
former provides manufacturers with an additional six months of “patent
exclusivity” if data about how the drugs affect children are submitted, while
the latter, more recent legislation, requires the manufacturers to provide that
data.
Mr.
Blumenthal said of the Federal act: “I think any protection or health care
quality guarantee for children deserves support”, and aid he agrees with the
concept of the legislation.
For
now, Ms. Matthew said that Ablechild is waiting to see how it can further assist
in the State and Federal investigations and hopes that the Federal act can be
passed.
“A
Federal law is so important because it’s tied to funding,” she said Friday,
April 23, at an Ablechild.org-sponsored lecture by Texas psychologist Dr. John
Breeding (see related story).
“We
want to inform the public of the labels and the drugs,” she added.