Doctors Fail to Recognize Life-Threatening Serotonin Syndrome

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"It is also possible," she adds, "that the psychiatrist did not realize that the family was administering dextromethorphan to the child --- it might have been given from an over-the-counter cough remedy by unsuspecting parents."

Dr Jackson also notes that Depakote has been shown to increase levels of serotonin in many brain regions, "hence," she says, "it was factor #3 in the serotonin syndrome which presumably killed this child."

"This toddler," she explains, "may have been receiving tiny doses of the medications prescribed, but that did not protect her from serotonin syndrome."

Reports by investigators, based on interviews of relatives in the home who observed Rebecca in the days before she died, describe symptoms typical of serotonin syndrome. They said she became restless, disorientated, incoherent, would not respond to her name and that she appeared dazed and "out of it."

She was lethargic at school and at home, and a neighbor described her as zombie-like, according to interviews in an affidavit filed in Plymouth District Court.

The day before she died, Rebecca developed a fever and was coughing uncontrollably, so her parents went to Wal-Mart to buy cold and flu medicine. While at Wal-Mart, Rebecca began to vomit, so Carolyn Riley purchased Pedialyte and a plastic bowl for Rebecca to vomit in during the ride home, and she reportedly vomited about 5 times over the course of that day.

Rebecca's grandmother told reporters that the doctor never told the parents not to give her the over-the-counter cold medications now listed as contributing to her death because of the prescription drugs she was on.

Dr Jackson suspects that Rebecca – like so many patients – was the unwitting victim of "Evidence Based Psychiatry," which means drug, drug, and more drug, because "somebody, somewhere, published a study that showed a three year old responded to five or six or seven drugs in combination," she states.

Dr Jackson is the author of, "Rethinking Psychiatric Drugs: A Guide for Informed Consent," a book that provides a critical appraisal of 3 classes of psychiatric drugs that an estimated 20% of Americans consume on a regular basis, including antidepressants, antipsychotics and stimulants.

According to Harvard Instructor Dr John Abramson, author of, "Overdosed America," this "gruesome story" seems to have two separate and distinct components. "First," he says, "is the question of whether or not the child was being given medication as it was prescribed."

"And the second," he notes, "is the question of why such medicines were prescribed for such a young child."

Dr Abraham points out that there has been a progressive medicalization of other than desirable behaviors in children. "We have seen this in the enormous proliferation of stimulant medication use," he notes, "far out of proportion to use in other countries."

Now, he says, the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children is rising in parallel, and clearly, it is the drug industry driving this medicalization to sell more products.

In what can only be described as assembly-line customer recruitment, Rebecca's psychiatrist, Dr Kifuji, also prescribed the same powerful drug cocktail to Rebecca's older brother and sister when they were diagnosed with the same illnesses several years earlier.

The Rileys' attorneys say the parents are unsophisticated people who did not question the doctor. Michael Riley's lawyer, John Darrell, told the Boston Globe on February 7, 2007, that neither parent knew enough treatment to have challenged Kifuji. "You've got two poor parents here of minor means financially, of minor education," he said.

A reading of all the official reports and court documents in this case definitely indicate that be true.

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