“A ground-breaking, year-long investigation by Youth Today has uncovered ample evidence that many youths incarcerated in American juvenile facilities are getting potent anti-psychotic drugs intended for bipolar or schizophrenic patients, even when they have not been diagnosed with either disorder.”
“Ken Kramer, a researcher with the Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida, obtained detailed annual Medicaid expenditures for the five most prescribed atypicals in 30 states. In 2003, Medicaid spending on the atypicals for adolescents in those states was about $238.7 million. Kramer found that by 2007 – the year Abilify became the first to gain approval for adolescent use – spending had more than doubled to $562.4 million.”
“It is clear that in at least some states, atypical anti-psychotics have become a major part of the medical protocol in juvenile facilities, and prescriptions for the drugs are tied to a wide range of diagnosed conditions.”
Read the full article by John Kelly here:
http://youthtoday.org/view_article.cfm?article_id=4344
For more information download this booklet from www.cchrstl.org: Child Drugging — Psychiatry Destroying Lives — Report and recommendations on fraudulent psychiatric diagnosis and the enforced drugging of youth.