TeenScreen Mental Illness Screening In Schools - How Could This Happen?

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By Evelyn Pringle (about the author) Page 3 of 6 page(s)

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For instance, Michael Hogan, Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health, served as Chairman of the Bush appointed New Freedom Commission (NFC), from which the recommendation to screen all Americans for mental illness originated to begin with.

Mr Hogan serves as a hub for the network of federal and state officials and policy makers involved in promoting TeenScreen. He is a member of TeenScreen's advisory council, and a past president of another Big Pharma-backed front group, known as the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors.

Being chairman of the NFC and recommending mental health screening for all Americans made Mr Hogan a hero among drug makers. On November 11, 2004, Lilly, announced the winners of the year's "Helping Move Lives Forward Reintegration Awards," and a Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Mr Hogan.

Lilly commended Mr Hogan "for his stewardship and advocacy in the implementation of the New Freedom Commission Report's recommendations," and for his "lifelong commitment to enhancing services for people with mental illnesses."

"The Reintegration Awards program," Lilly noted, "underscores the powerful and collaborative roles of consumer involvement, treatment team support and access to effective medication in helping people move their lives forward."

In granting the award, it was noted that Mr Hogan had given over 75 presentations at conferences since he became chairman of the NFC. However, a fact not mentioned was that every event where he gave a presentation was sponsored by a drug company and each group that organized the event received money from Big Pharma to pay the key note speaker, according to records researcher, Sue Weibert, who has been investigating the TeenScreen program for going on 2 years.

Mr Hogan and TeenScreen's Executive Director, Laurie Flynn, have been at this drug pushing business a long time. Back in 1999, while Ms Flynn was the director of NAMI, before being promoted to TeenScreen, she and Mr Hogan took part in the creation of a guide for the treatment of Schizophrenia.

In this process, "experts" decide which specific drugs will be on a list for doctors to use as a first line of treatment for Schizophrenia. Because all the major companies want their newest and most expensive drugs on the list, this project was funded by unrestricted educational grants from Eli Lilly, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Ortho-McNeil, Pfizer, and Zeneca Pharmaceuticals.

With Mr Hogan behind the program in Ohio, according to Ms Weibert, TeenScreen has 68 sites in Ohio, more than double the number of any other state. The Ohio budget proposal for the years 2006 and 2007, included a total of $140,000 for TeenScreen.

Ms Weibert also discovered that while Mr Hogan was chairing the NFC, he had Ms Flynn give a presentation on TeenScreen to a NFC committee in Arlington, Virginia and subsequently, when the NFC issued its final report, TeenScreen ended up being the recommended program for schools in all 50 states.

Mr Hogan is also a darling with other front groups. According to the 2003 Annual Report of the National Mental Health Association (NMHA), he was a key-note speaker at the group's 2003 Annual Convention.

TeenScreen lists NMHA as a supporter. NMAH claims that it wants to raise awareness that mental illnesses are common and treatable and to ensure that those most at-risk receive treatment. It seeks to increase the number of Americans who receive treatment and to improve the manner in which mental illnesses are detected and treated.

The message on the bottom of the NMAH website, says their campaign is underwritten by unrestricted educational grants from Eli Lilly, Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Forest Pharmaceuticals, Organon, Pfizer, and Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals.

Lilly has been funneling money to the NMHA to promote mental illness screening for over a decade. In 1993, Lilly paid for a campaign intended to reach 93% of all American adults. According to the Wall Street Journal on April 15, 1993, Lilly paid between $3 and $4 million for a 3-week promotional blitz. The goal was to encourage the public to seek professional help for depression.

Lilly also gave the NMHA $500,000 to conduct a nine-month public education program to identify potential candidates for treatment of depression, the Journal said.

In the group's 2003 Annual Report, recognition was noted for financial support to NMHA of amounts of more than $700,000, to Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, and Pfizer.

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