http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/2003/08-25-2003/vo19no17_drugging_print.htm
Drugging Our Kids
by William Norman Grigg
Despite the dangers posed by drugs such as Ritalin, some schools are
threatening parents with child abuse charges if they refuse to drug their
children.
Vol. 19, No. 17
August 25, 2003
Drugging Our Kids
Shaina Dunkle was a bright, energetic 10-year-old girl when she died in a
pediatrician’s office in Bradford, Pennsylvania, in February 2001. A little
more than a half-hour earlier, she had collapsed in the school library. Shaina
had a history of asthma and problems with her kidneys and urinary tract, but
these problems weren’t responsible for her tragic and unexpected death. A
postmortem ruled that the child died from the toxic effects of Desipramine, a
psychoactive drug she had been compelled to take after a school psychiatrist
suggested she suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Shaina’s problems began while attending first grade in 1997. Like many other
normal and healthy youngsters, she had problems sitting still, concentrating on
classroom instructions, and listening to her teachers. In an interview with the
investigative radio program Scams & Scandals, Shaina’s mother Vicky recalled
that the youngster "was placed outside the classroom [and] not allowed to study
with the other children." On one occasion, Shaina’s teacher, rebuking the
child for having a messy desk, emptied its contents on the classroom floor and
had her replace them as her classmates erupted in laughter. Old enough to feel
the sting of ostracism, Shaina started to have "nightmares [and was] beginning
to be afraid of going to school," Vicky related to her radio audience.
Lost angel: Shaina Dunkle, adopted by her parents Steve and Vicky at birth, was
a "sweet, caring, and giving" child who enjoyed dancing and sports. Like many
healthy, active children, Shaina had difficulty adapting to a classroom
environment. School administrators defined those difficulties as symptoms of a
spurious medical condition called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD), and compelled Shaina's parents toput her on a regimen of dangerous
psychoactive drugs, including Desipramine. Shaina died in February 2001, at 10
years of age, from coronary arrest precipitated by "Desipramine toxicity."
Knowing that their daughter had challenges with learning that could only be
addressed on a one-to-one basis, Vicky and her husband Steve took Shaina out of
class and home-schooled her for the rest of her first grade year. "I could see
a definite difference in her behavior, and she was making very good progress in
her studies," Vicky told THE NEW AMERICAN. As the summer of 1998 waned and
children prepared to return to school, Shaina — feeling the pull of her peer
group — wanted to go back. "She saw the other girls her age getting their
school clothes and backpacks, and she wanted to be with them," Vicky recalled.
After consulting with school officials, Vicky and Steve relented. But within
the first two weeks of classes, Shaina’s problems resumed.
"Shaina was behind the other children," Vicky recounted. "We wanted to have her
undergo a learning support evaluation." Immediately after that evaluation —
in January 1999, halfway through the school year — Shaina was placed in a
learning support program. But this didn’t satisfy school officials. "In March
[1999]," Vicky recalled, "we got a letter from the school psychologist telling
us that Shaina was still struggling, and that she displayed all of the
‘characteristics’ of a child suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder. This seemed odd to us, because Shaina wasn’t a disciplinary problem
for anybody. She was an obedient child, sweet, caring, and giving. She did have
a short attention span, and could be distracted fairly easily, but these are
hardly abnormal traits in a child her age. And she did have challenges to
overcome in her schoolwork. But the psychologist and other school officials
focused on ADHD as the problem, and began pressuring us — not forcing us, but
pressuring us — to have her examined and ‘medicated.’"
Although they balked at the suggestion, Vicky continued, "we were beginning to
believe that something must be wrong. After all, we thought, these people are
the experts. They’re with these children eight hours a day. If this is what
they say needs to be done, maybe we should do it." In April 1999, the Dunkles
visited a physician. Forty-five minutes later they emerged with a diagnosis of
ADHD and a prescription for Wellbutrin.
Almost immediately the side effects became visible: Shaina began to lose weight
and her disposition changed. Vicky took Shaina off the drug and took her back
to the physician, who prescribed another drug called Effexor, which led to
recurring bouts of insomnia. After the third visit, the second grader was put
on a third drug, Desipramine, "which we were told had fewer side effects and
was less likely to be abused than Ritalin," Vicky observed.
At first, "Shaina seemed to respond well to the Desipramine," Vicky continued.
"Her attention span got longer, her handwriting got neater. But then we got
calls from the school telling us that she was relapsing. This happened several
times, and each time we took her back for treatment — which meant a larger
dose of Desipramine." Neither Shaina nor her parents were warned that
Desipramine (which the FDA has not approved) should not be used by people
suffering from kidney ailments, as Shaina did.
After starting with a daily dosage of 10 milligrams, Shaina’s daily intake
steadily increased to 200 milligrams by February 2001 — and her physical and
behavioral problems escalated as well. Shortly before she died, "Shaina acted
out in class, throwing a pencil at one student and threatening another with
scissors," Vicky told THE NEW AMERICAN. "This sent up vivid red flags for her
teachers, and for us, too, because Shaina was never an aggressive or violent
child."
In mid-February 2001, Shaina’s physician — who insisted that Desipramine
wasn’t causing the side effects — ramped up the daily dose to 250
milligrams. One week later, Shaina was dead.
"That morning, I gave her breakfast, French-braided her hair, and then
administered her 250 milligrams of that drug," Vicky recalled to THE NEW
AMERICAN. "She left at a quarter to eight, saying, ‘I’ll see you at three,
Mommy.’" Three hours later Vicky got a call from the school nurse saying that
Shaina had fallen and injured her cheek during what appeared to be a mild
seizure. Vicky and Steve rushed to the school, collected their child, and drove
her to the doctor’s office.
Shaina appeared normal during the half-hour drive. As Vicky signed in with the
receptionist, Shaina collapsed into a seizure. A physician rushed in to examine
the child; after a moment he instructed a nurse to "call a code 99." "I’ve
worked in hospitals, and I knew that ‘code 99’ referred to cardiac arrest,"
Vicky explained. "Shaina looked into my eyes as her life ended, and I could do
nothing to save her," recalled Vicky. "It’s been two and a half years, and I
relive those last few minutes every day."
The coroner’s report certified that Shaina was killed by Desipramine
toxicity. As her dosage increased — in response to complaints from school
officials that her behavior wasn’t improving — Shaina was unable to
metabolize the drug. The accumulated toxins in her bloodstream precipitated a
heart attack.
Vicky and Steve adopted Shaina at birth. Vicky was present in the delivery room
when Shaina took her first breath and present in the pediatrician’s office
when she took her last. "I believe God sent her to us to take care of,"
commented Vicky, "and I’ve asked God too many times to count why He took her
from us." Every single night, Vicky and Steve visit a nearby cemetery to pray
over Shaina’s grave.
Just Say No?
Boyhood a sickness? The DSMV-IV, sometimes called the bible of psychiatry,
claims that a child who "fidgets," "squirms," or "has difficulty playing or
engaging in leisure activities quietly" may suffer from ADHD. As any parent of
young boys can attest, this would define practically any normal, healthy young
male as suffering from mental illness.
Steve and Vicky plausibly contend that the school officials who insisted on
drugging Shaina were directly responsible for her tragic and unnecessary death.
"Children go to school to be educated, not medicated," stated Vicky Dunkle.
"Parents should not be pressured to drug their children."
Over the past decade, the federal government has spent millions of dollars on
drug prevention programs targeting school-age youth. At the insistence of the
federal Office of National Drug Control Policy, counter-narcotics messages have
been insinuated into youth-oriented television programs. With the help of
federal subsidies, Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) programs have been
set up in nearly every school system across the country. But at the same time,
school officials nationwide routinely insist that children said to suffer from
ADHD be placed on various psychoactive drugs, particularly Ritalin — listed
by the FDA as a Class II controlled substance along with opium, codeine,
morphine, and cocaine.
Much of the counter-narcotics propaganda generated by the Office of National
Drug Control Policy focuses on the stereotypical schoolyard drug pusher,
usually portrayed as a grimy adult or a bullying older youth. Anti-drug
messages extol open communication between parents and children, and urge
children to stand up boldly to pushers.
All of this is well and good, of course. But, asks Scams & Scandals
host/investigator Tai Aguirre, what if "the drug pusher happens to be your
school social worker or psychologist, and they’re telling you your child
either takes their drugs or they won’t be allowed in school — or, even
worse, that [they’re] going to charge you, the parent, with neglect? What do
you do then? Do you ‘just say no’? Can you say no?"
Drug Him — or Lose Him
Speaking at a congressional hearing in August 2002, Neil Bush — brother of
President George W. Bush — described his own seven-year ordeal when his son
Pierce was diagnosed with ADHD at age 10. "There is a systematic problem in
this country, where schools are often forcing parents to turn to Ritalin,"
concluded Bush. "It’s obvious to me we have a crisis in this country."
Many parents have discovered that refusing to drug their children may be met
with child abuse or neglect charges and the loss of their parental rights. This
highlights a critical difference between street-corner drug pushers and their
counterparts on the government’s payroll. A private pusher can’t force
children to take drugs by telling them that they will otherwise be torn from
their families.
In July 2000, Michael and Jill Carroll of Albany, New York, were reported to
social services authorities after they took their son Kyle off Ritalin. As is
the case with many other youngsters on Ritalin, Kyle displayed a loss of
appetite and difficulty sleeping.
When Mr. and Mrs. Carroll decided that it would be in Kyle’s best interest to
stop using the drug, an official from the local school district filed a
complaint with Albany County’s Department of Social Services. A family court
judge ruled that the parents must continue to drug their son to avoid child
abuse charges. In a story on the case, Albany’s NBC affiliate WNYT-TV
reported that "Social Service workers will visit the family throughout the next
year" to assure that the parents comply.
This highlights another distinction between government dope-pushers and their
private-sector equivalents: Private pushers are content to sell their product;
they don’t thrust their way into their customers’ homes and force them to
consume it.
The Carrolls are hardly the first or only parents forced to dope their children
under the threat of losing them. In 2000, Patricia Weathers of Millbrook, New
York, was "hot-lined" by local school officials — threatened with the seizure
of her son by Child Protective Services — after she took him off a drug
regimen that included Ritalin, Dextrostat, and Paxil.
"Mom, it makes me feel bad," complained nine-year-old Michael Mozer about the
"cocktail" of drugs he was forced to take, including a varient of Ritalin
called Dextrostat. Once a bright, active, friendly boy, Michael became sullen
and withdrawn as the mind-altering drugs took their toll; he eventually began
to have hallucinations in which "there's a person inside my head telling me to
do bad things." After his mother defied the so-called experts and took Michael
off drugs, she was "hot-lined" to Child Protective Services and accused of
medical neglect.
"When Michael was in kindergarten and first grade, his teachers told me he had
behavior problems — he was easily distracted, had problems focusing, and
wouldn’t sit down," Patricia told THE NEW AMERICAN. "I was told that if I
didn’t ‘medicate’ him — that is, drug him — he wouldn’t learn. I
was assured that the drugs were mild. I wasn’t told that they are as
dangerous as cocaine, or that there were health risks and side effects. They
kept calling me down to the office, wearing me down. Eventually the principal
told me point-blank: ‘Counseling is too slow. Think of medicating this child
or I will do everything in my power to transfer him into a special education
program.’ So we started him on Ritalin just before the end of his first grade
year."
According to Patricia, Michael was "diagnosed" with ADHD on the basis of the
Acters Profile for Boys, a widely used checklist for behavior disorders. "It
basically lists stereotypical boy behaviors — untidiness, disorganization,
inattentiveness — as symptoms of ADHD," she contended. School officials just
"checked off the list, gave it to the pediatrician, and he put Michael on
Ritalin." Significantly, Patricia observed, "I only put him on the drugs when
he was going to school. He never had it on weekends, or on summer vacation. And
I would never have done this if it weren’t for the coercion from the school."
From Healthy to Haunted
By third grade, Michael’s behavior had deteriorated dramatically. "He was
eating his clothing, slobbering, and did not want to go out for recess,"
related Patricia. Michael was put on Dextrostat, which apparently exacerbated
his problems. Rather than reconsidering the wisdom of drugging the child,
school officials insisted that Michael suffered from "some other disorder" —
variously described as either bi-polar disorder or "social anxiety." Paxil, an
anti-anxiety drug — was added to the regimen.
By this time — late 1999 — "Michael was telling me, ‘Mom, it makes me
feel bad,’" Patricia told THE NEW AMERICAN. "He was having major incidents of
violent behavior, hallucinating, and even hearing voices. I finally took him
off the drugs in October 1999, and started doing my own research." After
learning of the drugs’ side effects and health risks, Patricia confronted
school officials in early January. "I made it very clear that we were finished
with the drug route," she recalled. "The principal slammed my information down
on my desk and said, ‘We have nothing left to offer Michael.’"
Shortly thereafter, as Patricia prepared to fly to Texas with her son to seek
specialized medical treatment, she was informed that school officials had
"hot-lined" her to Child Protective Services (CPS), claiming that she was
guilty of medical neglect. "[Michael’s] behavior at school is bizarre: He
hears voices and appears delusional, he chews on his clothes and paper, he
talks to himself and rambles when he talks," stated the child abuse complaint
filed against Patricia Weathers by the local school district. A month-long
investigation cleared Patricia of child abuse and "medical neglect" after
evaluations by independent psychiatrists proved that Michael’s symptoms
reflected state-ordered drug use, rather than parental mistreatment.
"I trusted the judgment of ‘experts’ rather than my own common sense,"
commented Patricia to THE NEW AMERICAN. "Millions of other parents make the
same mistake. If I had known about the risks and effects of those drugs, there
is no way I would have allowed them to drug my son." While Patricia Weathers
and her son survived both the forced drugging and the attempted child grab, six
months after Michael was taken off the drugs he was found to have a heart
murmur — a recognizable, if rare, side effect of drugs like Ritalin.
Michael has been home-schooled for three years, and may enroll in private
school this fall. "It’s wonderful," Patricia enthused. "It was difficult at
first, but he’s growing and thriving now — and he loves to learn. He was
socially isolated while he was on the drugs, and now he’s anxious to
socialize and play sports."
Fourteen-year-old Matthew Smith of Auburn Hills, Michigan, was not so
fortunate. He died on March 21, 2000, after seven years of state-imposed
Ritalin use. Matthew’s death certificate candidly states: "Death caused from
long term use of methylphenidate [Ritalin]." Dr. Ljuba Dragovic, a pathologist
who presided over Matthew’s autopsy, noted that the youngster’s heart
displayed tell-tale small vessel damage from prolonged Ritalin use. (At the
time of death Matthew’s heart had swollen to 402 grams — larger than that
of a full-grown man, which typically weighs 350 grams.)
"We were told Matt had ADHD when he was six years old," Matt’s father Larry
told THE NEW AMERICAN. "We were told that the condition was a legitimate
medical disorder, that he needed the Ritalin in order to deal with this
objective medical condition. But we just didn’t have a good feeling about
putting our boy on drugs." As Matt’s parents dragged their feet, the pressure
to drug their child increased. A letter from the school social worker to
Matthew’s parents complained: "We would have hoped you would have started
Matthew on a trial of medication by now." At one counseling session, Larry
Smith recounted to THE NEW AMERICAN, "the social worker told us we could be
charged with medical or emotional neglect if we refused to take Matthew to the
doctor and get him on Ritalin. My wife and I were intimidated and scared. We
believed that there was a very real possibility of losing our children if we
did not comply with the school’s threats."
The Smiths took Matthew to see a physician in Birmingham, Michigan. On the
basis of what Larry calls "a five-minute pencil twirling trick," Matthew was
diagnosed as having ADHD. As the physician scribbled out a prescription for
Ritalin, he "asked us to remind the school that he was not a pharmacy,"
recalled Larry Smith. "I can only conclude from his comment that we were not
the first parents sent to him by this school."
Essentially, the school system used the implied threat of kidnapping the
Smiths’ children to force them to drug their oldest, which resulted in his
death.
A Growing Scourge
Students--or future junkies? Ritalin is listed--along with cocaine--as a "Class
II substance" for its narcotic properties. In many cities, including Detroit,
Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Chicago, Ritalin is used as an inhalant drug, or
combined with other narcotics such as cocaine and heroin. Military recruiters
disqualify applicants with a history of Ritalin use. Yet millions of children
in our public school system are pressured into taking Ritalin and similar
dangerous drugs."
Forced drugging of schoolchildren has become so common that the mainstream
press — which can usually be counted on to carry water for the government
school system — has taken note. USA Today for August 8, 2000, reported that
"some public schools are accusing parents of child abuse when they balk at
giving their kids drugs such as Ritalin, and as judges begin to agree, some
parents are medicating their children for fear of having them hauled away."
Advocates for the forced medication of schoolchildren diagnosed with ADHD and
similar dubious maladies are unapologetic about the use of such totalitarian
methods. "It’s becoming increasingly clear that this is a powerful treatment
that can be life-saving for some children," insists Peter Jensen, a board
member of Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (CHADD), which
advocates the use of Ritalin and similar drugs. "This is going to be happening
more and more," he promises.
Dr. Jensen, whose high-profile advocacy earned him the sobriquet "Mr. ADHD,"
does believe, however, that there are a few parents whose judgement can be
trusted when they refuse to drug their children. Speaking at a gathering of
psychologists in December 2001, Dr. Jensen emphasized that "medication is not
the only effective nor … the best treatment option for every child," reported
the Monitor on Psychology. "When his own child was diagnosed with ADHD, Jensen
told the audience, he and his wife opted not to use medication."