March 17, 2006 at 19:17:49

ADHD Drugs - Who Said What At Last Month's Hearings

SAVE AS FAVORITE

VIEW FAVORITES

By Evelyn Pringle (about the author) Page 3 of 4 page(s)

opednews.com Permalink

"Finally, what does it say about all of us? We turn on the news each night and we tragically see young drivers, teenagers, killed in automobile accidents--so many that we forget their names, their faces and their stories. We develop a sense of apathy."

"This may all seem like drama," she told the audience. "Unfortunately, it is the untold story of what happens when we fail to recognize and treat ADHD," she said.

According to the doc, depriving kids of what amounts to legalized speed, leads to every misbehavior and sin known to mankind:

"With untreated ADHD we see higher rates of school and occupational failure; greater rates of incarceration; juvenile delinquency; substance abuse; teen pregnancy; sexually transmitted diseases; more problems with depression and self esteem and, finally, greater numbers of automobile accidents and fatalities."

Its a drama all right, but the good doctor has it backwards. Kids who are fed speed from age 2 on up are the ones likely to end up in the situations described above.

"Children who are medicated early," Psychiatrist Dr Stefan Kruszewski warns, "can't adapt or learn to find coping strategies that work for them as they move through different developmental stages."

"Instead," he explains, "they learn to rely on a psychopharmaceutical behavior, i.e., that drugs can solve problems, rather than their innate creative potential to solve problems by themselves or with the help of family, friends, schooling, music and the arts, church, social outings, recreation and sports."

Actually, aside from the cheerleading by CHADD, the only good news that came out at the hearing for pharma was when Dr Kate Gelperin stated: "Drug treatment of ADHD is increasing in all age groups ... and also drug treatment for ADHD can now potentially be life-long." That remark definitely describes a customer base that drug companies have been chasing after for years.

Dr Kruszewski says, "one of the problems with the diagnostic assessment of ADHD, is that a pre-screening statement is so inclusive that virtually every child meets pre-screening criteria and therefore every child, under prevailing treatment modalities for ADHD, becomes eligible for 'chronic' medication therapies."

Dr Kruszewski says once screened, "children become 'eligible' for further screening for co-morbid conditions (social anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, etc) and therefore eligible for the possibility of even more medications."

Thus, an ADHD diagnosis marks the beginning of a nightmare for many kids.

Sandra Lucas appeared at the hearing and testified on behalf of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a psychiatric watchdog group.

Ms Lucas told the audience, we do know that the side effects of the stimulants are not only present, they are extremely serious and sometimes lethal.

So, while the FDA ponders the problem of studying the issue and conducting the studies that may have inherent flaws, she said, what real, immediate protections are to be put in place for parents and children?

If anyone proposed to study the issue of giving cocaine to children to suppress symptoms of inattention, that individual would be regarded as off his rocker, Ms Lucas said.

Yet, she continued, there is already ample evidence that stimulant drugs given to children are similar in their effects to cocaine, the major difference being, of course, that cocaine is illegal, that drug companies do not profit from it, while stimulants are legal and highly profitable.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4