http://www.ritalindeath.com/brucewisemanstestimony.htm
TESTIMONY OF BRUCE WISEMAN U.S. PRESIDENT
CITIZENS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Committee on House Government Reform
September 26, 2002
Thank you Congressman Burton and members of the Committee for the opportunity
to speak today.
I am sure that each of us here feels a deep-felt concern for the well being of
children. No one can disagree that the health and welfare of children and their
families, are priorities for any country.
For over 30 years, CCHR's observations and conclusions have been drawn from
speaking to hundreds of thousands of parents, doctors, teachers and others who
have reported human rights abuse in the mental health system, especially
against children.
For example, at seven, Matthew Smith was diagnosed through his school as having
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). His parents were told that he
needed to take a stimulant to help him focus. Initially resistant, Matthew's
parents were told that non-compliance could bring criminal charges for
neglecting their son's educational and emotional needs. "My wife and I were
scared of the possibility of losing our children if we didn't comply," said
Matthew's father, Lawrence Smith. They conceded to the pressure.
On March 21, 2000, while skateboarding, Matthew tragically died from a heart
attack. The coroner determined that had died from the long-term use of the
prescribed stimulant.
We all know that there are children who are troubled, who do need care. But
what that "care" is or should be is the point of contention.
In 1999—in the wake of the Columbine school shootings—CCHR worked with
Colorado State Board of Education member, Mrs. Patty Johnson, who orchestrated
the passage of the precedent-setting school board resolution that recommended
academic rather than drug solutions for behavioral and learning problems in the
classroom. Teenage shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had undergone
psychological "anger management classes" and Harris was taking an
antidepressant known to cause mania.
Mrs. Johnson stated, "The diagnosing of children with…mental disorders is not
the role of school personnel, nor is recommending the use of psychiatric
drugs…The [Colorado] resolution told educators that their role was to teach
and to pursue academic and disciplinary solutions for problems of attention and
learning."
Then in 2000, Jennifer L. Wood, Chief Legal Counsel for the Rhode Island
Department of Education, issued a letter to all school superintendents stating
that the federal Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA)
"prohibits school personnel from making a decision about a child's educational
services without the consent of the child's parent(s). School personnel must
refrain from making statements that may be construed as offering medical
advice, or making a medical decision, such as 'Your child should be taking
medication,' or 'I've seen many students like your child and based on that
experience your child should be on medication'…It is not lawful for school
personnel to require that a child continue or initiate a course of taking
medication as a condition of attending school. School personnel cannot require,
suggest or imply that a student take medication as a condition of attending
school."
Yet this is violated across the nation.
Millions of children are being drugged with powerful stimulants and
antidepressants, placing our nation's children at risk. There are scores of
studies that substantiate this. In testimony before a 1970 Congressional
Hearing on whether or not to fund research into pharmacological treatment for
school problems, Dr. John D. Griffith, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry,
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, stated: "I would like to point out
that every drug, however innocuous, has some degree of toxicity. A drug,
therefore, is a type of poison and its poisonous qualities must be carefully
weighed against its therapeutic usefulness. A problem, now being considered in
most of the capitols of the Free World, is whether the benefits derived from
amphetamines outweigh their toxicity. It is the consensus of the World
Scientific Literature that the amphetamines are of very little benefit to
mankind. They are, however, quite toxic."
In 2000, The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
reported, "it is well known that psychostimulants have abuse potential. Very
high doses of psychostimulants…may cause central nervous system damage,
cardiovascular damage, and hypertension. In addition, high doses have been
associated with compulsive behaviors, and in certain vulnerable individuals,
movement disorders."
In August 2001, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that
methylphenidate (Ritalin) acts much like cocaine. Injected as a liquid, it
sends a jolt that "addicts like very much," said Nora Volkow, M.D.,
psychiatrist and imaging expert at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY.
The drug is chemically similar to cocaine, the study says. It also admits that
although psychiatrists have used this drug to treat ADHD for 40 years, they and
pharmacologists have never known how or why it worked.
As a result of over-medicating our children and the fact that so many parents
were being forced to place their child on such drugs through our schools,
currently more than half of our states have introduced and/or passed some type
of legislation or regulation to restrict the use of psychiatric drugs for
children. Two years ago, the Texas State Board of Education passed a resolution
indicating that Ritalin prescribed for ADHD resulted in "little improvement in
academic or social skills," and "psychiatric prescription drugs have been
utilized for what are essentially problems of discipline which may be related
to lack of academic success." Among a number of recommendations, it urged
schools to "use proven academic and/or management solutions to resolve
behavior, attention, and learning difficulties" and recommended that parents be
informed of programs such as "tutoring, vision testing, phonics, nutritional
guidance, medical examinations, allergy testing, standard disciplinary
procedures, and other remedies known to be effective and harmless."
I am submitting a selection of state laws and resolutions for the Committee's
consideration. In particular, I draw attention to the Model Legislation adopted
by the National Foundation of Women Legislators Education Policy Committee,
which quotes from a report by the 1998 NIH Conference on the Diagnosis and
Treatment of ADHD. This, in part, concluded, "We don't have an independent,
valid test for ADHD; there are no data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain
malfunction...and finally, after years of clinical research and experience with
ADHD, our knowledge about the cause or causes of ADHD remains speculative."
Even the Surgeon General's 1999 report on mental health said that the exact
etiology (cause) for ADHD is unknown. Indeed, the Surgeon General said, "The
diagnosis of mental disorders is often believed to be more difficult than
diagnosis of somatic or general medical disorders since there is no definitive
lesion, laboratory test or abnormality in brain tissue that can identify
illness." [emphasis added]
In August, the Netherlands Advertising Code Commission ordered the country's
Brain Foundation to cease advertising ADHD as a brain dysfunction, stating,
"The information that the defendant presented gives no grounds for the
definitive statement that ADHD is an inherent brain dysfunction….Under the
circumstances, the defendant has not been careful enough and the advertisement
is misleading."
This is, perhaps, the crux of the problem—that we are relying on a diagnosis
that is subjective and is open to arbitrary use and abuse. The symptoms of ADHD
could be caused by anything from normal childhood antics to toxic or allergic
reactions to too much sugar.
Dr. Arthur Teng of the Sydney Children's Hospital says that sleep apnoea "can
have a very big impact on a child's behavior, learning ability and attention
during the day."
According to Dr. Mark Filidei from the Whitaker Wellness Center in California,
the symptoms of lead poisoning are "strikingly similar to several psychiatric
'diseases' [and] can exhibit...learning disorders, hyperactivity, aggressive or
disruptive behavior."
Evidence reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences this year indicates that
toxic chemicals contribute to learning or behavioral problems, including lead,
mercury, industrial chemicals, and certain pesticides. A University of Arizona
study found that children exposed to a combination of pesticides before birth
and through breast milk exhibited less stamina, and poorer memory and
coordination, than other kids.
In May, the Council of Europe, which investigated the misdiagnosing and
drugging of children in response to concerns about American child drugging
trends emerging in Europe, issued its findings, which included: "The Assembly
also considers that more research should be conducted into the impact of proper
tutoring and educational solutions for children exhibiting ADHD symptoms, into
the behavioral effects of such medical problems as allergies or toxic
reactions, and into alternative forms of treatment such as diet."
Furthermore, thousands of children put on psychiatric drugs are simply "smart."
The late Dr. Sydney Walker, psychiatrist, neurologist and author said, "They're
hyper not because their brains don't work right, but because they spend most of
the day waiting for slower students to catch up with them. These students are
bored to tears, and people who are bored fidget, wiggle, scratch, stretch, and
(especially if they are boys) start looking for ways to get into trouble."
Also consider the similarities between the signs of giftedness and "learning"
and "behavioral disorders."
Giftedness:
Poor attention, boredom, daydreaming in specific situations
Low tolerance for persistence on tasks that seem irrelevant
Judgment lags behind development of intellect
Intensity may lead to power struggles with authorities
High activity level; may need less sleep
Questions rules, customs and traditions
Compare to Behavior Associated with ADHD:
Poorly sustained attention in almost all situations
Diminished persistence on tasks without immediate consequences
Impulsivity, poor delay of gratification
Impaired adherence to commands to regulate or inhibit behavior in social
contexts
More active, restless than other children
Difficulty adhering to rules and regulations
There are so many potential causes for a child's learning or behavioral
problems that to deny parents all the information about these is neglect in
itself. I provide the Committee with a sample of cases of parents who fought to
have their child properly diagnosed and found the correct, underlying problem.
No legislation should allow for the drugging of children, especially the
enforced drugging of children, to be based on the arbitrariness of today's
"Learning Disorders" diagnostic criteria.
For example, the President's Commission on Excellence in Education revealed
this year that 40 percent of kids are being labeled with "learning disorders"
simply because they have not been taught to read. State and federal governments
spend $28 billion per year for educating children categorized under the label,
"Non Specific Learning Disorder."
According to pediatric neurologist, Dr. Fred Baughman, Jr., "The most
fundamental aspect of reforming the IDEA is to provide a definitive physically
based definition of disability. This must include the necessity to establish a
tangible, objective physical abnormality which can be determined by a test such
as, but not limited to, blood or urine test, x-ray, brain scan or biopsy. If
none of these learning 'disorders' can meet this test, then clearly there is no
physical abnormality and we are labeling entirely normal children as abnormal."
All this information should be made available to parents when making an
informed choice about the medical or educational needs of their child. This is
in keeping with U.S. Public Law 96-88, which states, "parents have the primary
responsibility for the education of their children, and States, localities, and
private institutions have the primary responsibility for supporting that
parental role."
And it would align with the American Medical Association's standard for
Informed Consent which calls for communicating the "nature and purpose of a
proposed treatment or procedure; the risks and benefits of such treatments and
the alternatives…." In relation to parental permission and assent in
pediatric practice, The American Academy of Pediatrics also notes that "…the
patient has the freedom to choose among the medical alternatives without
coercion or manipulation."
Millions of children are being told there is something 'wrong' with their
brain, although no one can prove it. They are labeled "mentally disordered"
with diagnoses that are subjective and then subjected to potentially dangerous
and addicting drugs in order to control or change their behavior, a
stigmatizing process to say the least.
As senior government officials, you represent the lives of all citizens.
Families are grieving for their lost children because they were not provided
with all the facts about mental health treatments, especially psychotropic
drugs, and were denied access to alternative and workable solutions.
We respectively request that the Government Reform Committee recommend federal
legislation that:
1) Makes it illegal for parents or guardians to be coerced into placing their
child on psychotropic drugs as a requisite for his or her remaining in school;
2) Protects parents or guardians against their child being removed from their
custody if they refuse to administer a psychotropic drug to their child;
3) Provides parents the right to "informed consent" in relation to solutions to
resolve behavior, attention, and learning difficulties which includes all
information about alternatives to behavioral programs and psychotropic drugs,
including tutoring, vision testing, phonics, nutritional guidance, medical
examinations, allergy testing, standard disciplinary procedures, and other
remedies known to be effective and harmless.
4) Ensures the "informed consent" procedure includes informing parents about
the diverse medical opinion about the scientific validity of ADHD and other
"learning disorders."
Thank you again, for the opportunity to present this information.