Does NIMH have your back (or your brain)?

Posted on March 13, 2017 by cchrstl

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the lead federal agency for research on mental disorders. NIMH is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the nation’s medical research agency. NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

An argument could be made that NIMH is an unconstitutional organization. Constitutionally, the federal government was only delegated very limited powers, and mental health care was not one of them. Amendment X, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

James Madison made it clear that the powers delegated to the federal government by the States were limited primarily to external (foreign) objects, specifically levy war, conclude peace, establish foreign commerce, and alliance negotiations; and that powers reserved to the States extend to all the objects which concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people.
http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa45.htm

Madison further says that the clause “promote the general Welfare” in the preamble to the Constitution (and similarly in Article 1 Section 8) was not meant to be used as a justification to expand the power of the federal government beyond its limitations, but simply states the purpose of the powers which had been explicitly enumerated within the Constitution itself.
http://lawandliberty.org/genwel.htm

The process by which the federal government expands its powers and makes such organizations as HHS, NIH and NIMH “legal” is called Regulatory Agencies. For example, in 1912 Congress established a Children’s Bureau in the Department of Labor. In 1939 the Federal Security Agency was created by the Reorganization Act of 1939. In 1944 the Public Health Service Act created the Office of the Surgeon General, the National Institutes of Health, and other new government bureaus. In 1946, the Children’s Bureau was moved to the Federal Security Agency. In 1953 the Federal Security Agency became the cabinet-level Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. In 1979 the Department of Education Organization Act split the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); and HHS manages NIH and NIMH.

These Executive branch Regulatory Agencies, established by the Legislative branch (Congress), are then controlled by the Executive branch; and these agencies make Rules (Regulations) which have the force of Law, since Congress originally authorized them by passing a Law creating them.

This is an extremely abbreviated discussion of the matter; whole books and many web sites expound on this subject of Constitutional Liberty. The remedy for this situation, called Nullification, was suggested by Thomas Jefferson, among others: “That the several states who formed that instrument [i.e. The Constitution], being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right to judge of its infraction; and that a nullification, by those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done under colour of that instrument, is the rightful remedy.”
http://billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/primary-source-documents/virginia-and-kentucky-resolutions/

NIMH Vision
“NIMH envisions a world in which mental illnesses are prevented and cured.”

NIMH Mission
“The mission of NIMH is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure.”

On the surface, the Vision and Mission are not bad statements; the devil is in the details, and the fact that the term “mental illness” is a red herring.

Psychiatric disorders are not medical diseases. There are no lab tests, brain scans, X-rays or chemical imbalance tests that can verify any mental disorder is a physical condition. This is not to say that people do not get depressed, or that people can’t experience emotional or mental duress, but psychiatry has repackaged these emotions and behaviors as “disease” or “illness” in order to sell drugs. This is a brilliant marketing campaign, but it is not science.

Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D. is a psychiatrist and the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. His research focuses on the analysis of neural activity in mice. Psychiatrists often believe that studying mouse brains is a worthwhile activity, and that the federal government should pay for this research.

Shelli Avenevoli, Ph.D., is a psychologist and the Acting Deputy Director for NIMH. She completed an NIMH-funded postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology (the branch of medicine dealing with the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases and other health factors.) So her psychiatric indoctrination was bought and paid for by NIMH with your tax money.

NIMH has official Offices under the NIMH Director for AIDS, Autism, Clinical Research, Public Relations, Genomics (genetic risk factors for mental disorders), Global Mental Health Concerns (particularly for those living in rural areas), National Mental Health Policies, and all things related to brain and behavioral research. Additionally there are various Divisions having to do with Neuroscience, Genomics, Training, Technology, and Public Relations. It is quite an extensive bureaucracy.

Email Addresses for officials of NIMH Offices and Divisions:
NIMHinfo@mail.nih.gov
NIMHpress@nih.gov
drausch@mail.nih.gov
ebrouwer@mail.nih.gov
IACCPublicInquiries@mail.nih.gov
Nitin.Gogtay@nih.gov
anna.ordonez@nih.gov
quarteyp@mail.nih.gov
tlehner@mail.nih.gov
pamela.collins@nih.gov
hustonad@mail.nih.gov
meredith.fox@nih.gov
masonjl@mail.nih.gov
FarberG@mail.nih.gov
lbrady@mail.nih.gov
koesters@mail.nih.gov
anjene.addington@nih.gov
lwinsky@mail.nih.gov
nancy.desmond@nih.gov
Jamie.Driscoll@nih.gov
ashlee.van’tveer@nih.gov
mgrabb@mail.nih.gov
merikank@mail.nih.gov
mishkinm@mail.nih.gov
murraye@mail.nih.gov
rheinsse@mail.nih.gov
jsherril@mail.nih.gov
jnoronha@mail.nih.gov
sarah.lisanby@nih.gov
kanders1@mail.nih.gov

The NIMH Strategic Plan has four main Objectives:
1. Define the Mechanisms of Complex Behaviors [really, Brain Research]
2. Chart Mental Illness Trajectories To Determine When, Where, and How to Intervene [really, Brain Development as a person ages]
3. Strive for Prevention and Cures [really, Drug Research]
4. Strengthen the Public Health Impact of NIMH-Supported Research [really, Partnering with Insurers; Medicaid; the FDA; Local, State and Federal legislators; Technologists e.g. Apps for hand-held devices].

The Fiscal Year 2017 NIMH Budget is $1,518,700,000 (i.e. over $1.5 billion). It has gone up from $1.4 billion in 2007. Roughly at least $25 million goes to basic brain research, with a total for all research grants over a billion dollars. There are roughly 550 NIMH employees at an average salary of $107,901; with total personnel compensation (salary + benefits) roughly $95 million for 2017.

Look at the actual products, not at the lofty words. No Cures. Harmful and Addictive brain-modifying drugs. Harmful “treatments” like electroshock, lobotomies, and magnetic brain bombardment. Massive bureaucracy. And You Paid For It.

For example, NIMH recommends the antipsychotic drug clozapine for individuals at risk of suicide. Clozapine (brand name Clozaril) is a newer atypical antipsychotic with side effects such as suicidal thoughts and violence. Long-term use of antipsychotics may lead to tardive dyskinesia which causes muscle movements that a person can’t control, and in some cases cannot be cured.

Do you still think that NIMH has your back, or just your brain?

Find Out! Fight Back!
http://www.cchrstl.org/

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This is Your Brain on TMS

Posted on March 6, 2017 by cchrstl

TMS is now available in St. Louis, according to local TV commercials promoting this crippling form of brain stimulation.

Techniques such as “transcranial magnetic stimulation” (TMS) are psychiatry’s latest experiment in treatment of the “mentally ill.”

In TMS, a magnetic coil is placed near the patient’s scalp and a powerful and rapidly changing magnetic field passes through skin and bone and penetrates a few centimeters (up to 2.5 inches) into the outer cortex (outer gray matter) of the brain and induces an electrical current. Repetitive TMS (rTMS) can cause seizures or epileptic convulsions in healthy subjects, depending upon the intensity, frequency, duration and interval of the magnetic stimuli.

With ECT and psychosurgery under intense critical public scrutiny, psychiatry is now feverishly searching for a new “breakthrough miracle” – and TMS is one of the new catch phrases.

The TMS St. Louis web site (http://www.tms-stlouis.com/) says “Deep TMS Therapy is an FDA-cleared depression treatment for patients with depression who have not benefited from antidepressant medications.” Well, that makes every patient in mental health care eligible for TMS, since patently none of them have benefited from the drugs.

Why do some people say it “works”?

No one denies that people can have difficult problems in their lives, that at times they can be mentally unstable. Unfortunately, not only do psychiatrists not understand the etiology (cause) of any mental disorder, they cannot cure them. In effect, psychiatrists are still saying that mental problems are incurable and that the afflicted are condemned to lifelong suffering.
Psychiatric treatments such as TMS, however, are unworkable and dangerous, and while they may temporarily mask some symptoms they do not treat, correct or cure any physical disease or condition.

TMS may temporarily relieve the pressure that an underlying physical problem could be causing but it does not treat, correct or cure any physical disease or condition. This relief may have the person thinking he is better but that relief is not evidence that a psychiatric disorder exists. Ask an illicit drug user whether he feels better when snorting cocaine or smoking dope and he’ll believe that he is, even while the drugs are actually damaging him. Some depression treatments can have a “damping down” effect. They suppress the physical feelings associated with “depression” but they are not alleviating the condition or targeting what is causing it.

The brain is your body’s most energy–intensive organ. It represents only three percent of your body weight but uses twenty–five percent of your body’s oxygen, nutrients and circulating glucose. Therefore any significant metabolic disruptions such as TMS can impact brain function.

The brain stimulation breaks the routine rhythmic flows and activities of the nervous system. The nerves and other body systems are forced to do things they normally would not do. The human body, however, is unmatched in its ability to withstand and respond to such disruptions. The various systems fight back, trying to process the disruption, and work diligently to counterbalance its effect on the body.

But the body can only take so much. Quickly or slowly, the systems break down. Human physiology was not designed for this type of brain stimulation. Tissue damage may occur. Nerves may stop functioning normally. Organs and hormonal systems may go awry. This can be temporary, but it can also be long lasting, even permanent. Like a car run on rocket fuel, you may be able to get it to run a thousand miles an hour, but the tires, the engine, the internal parts, were never meant for this. The machine flies apart.

Side effects (adverse reactions) of TMS may include headache, scalp discomfort, facial muscle spasms, lightheadedness, fainting; altered endocrine, immune or neurotransmitter systems; loss of consciousness; seizures; mania; hearing loss; and, if the patient is depressed, the “treatment” may induce or exacerbate suicidal feelings. Adverse reactions are often delayed – i.e. may appear long after the patient has left the doctor’s office.

You may hear that TMS is called “noninvasive”, but it does impact the brain in ways that are not fully understood. One could say it is “noninvasive” in the same way that ECT is noninvasive – i.e. it doesn’t break the skin. Scorch marks not included. Little is known about the long-term side effects. Cognitive impairment has also been observed in some cases. Using different stimulation intensities and/or patterns may also have significant effects on the long-lasting outcomes.

Typical treatment involves a 40-minute session, five days a week, for four to six weeks. The cost can range from $6,000 to $10,000.

Physically intrusive and damaging practices such as TMS violate the doctor’s pledge to uphold the Hippocratic Oath and “Do no harm.”

New high-tech “treatments” for the brain will continue to be used to create the appearance of scientific progress, but in the end, psychiatry will be no closer to identifying any causes or effecting any cures; instead, their betrayal and brutality in the name of mental health continues. Psychiatry has proven only one thing — without the protection of basic human rights, there can only be diminished mental health.

Persons in desperate circumstances must be provided proper and effective medical care. The correct action on a seriously mentally disturbed person is a full, searching clinical examination by a competent medical doctor to discover and treat the true cause of the problem. Mental health facilities should have non-psychiatric medical experts on staff and be required to have a full complement of diagnostic equipment, which could prevent more than 40% of admissions by finding and treating undiagnosed physical conditions.

Click here for more information about the brutal reality of abusive psychiatric practices such as electroshock, TMS, deep brain stimulation, and psychosurgery.

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Hidden Side Effects

Posted on February 24, 2017 by cchrstl

A short article in the January, 2017 Scientific American indicates that “Researchers don’t always share the whole picture when it comes to the safety of drugs and other medical treatments.”

It goes on to say that “Approximately half of studies published on new medical treatments leave out at least some of the adverse effects they uncovered.”

Starting now, U.S. investigators conducting clinical trials will have to make all their findings publicly available, according to a new rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Refer to the Trials Tracker here, to see who isn’t reporting all their clinical trial data.

The Trials Tracker currently shows the top 290 trial sponsors who have missing clinical trial data. Since 2006, 45% of all known trials are missing published data. Trials with negative results are twice as likely to remain unreported as those with positive results.

For example, in Missouri the Washington University School of Medicine has completed 141 trials of which 67 are missing published results; the University of Missouri-Columbia completed 31 trials of which 16 are missing results. Of the pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer has run 471 trials of which 62 are missing results; AstraZeneca completed 408 with 68 missing; Eli Lilly and Company ran 292 with 15 missing; Novartis Pharmaceuticals ran 534 with 201 missing; GlaxoSmithKline ran 809 with 183 missing; Bayer ran 267 with 106 missing; Takeda ran 211 with 72 missing.

The high level data does not show the drug or device under investigation, and drilling down to the base data does not show the class or type of drug. But as an example, we searched for Ritalin (methylphenidate) and found four completed clinical trials with no published results. We can only assume the results were negative.

Click here for the truth about psychiatric drugs.

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Off-Label Drug Use May Be Risky

Posted on February 18, 2017 by cchrstl

The February 2017 issue of Consumer Reports article, “Should Drugs Do Double Duty” says, “Your doctor might give you a drug for a condition that it’s not approved to treat. That’s a risk you may not want to take.”

“Doctors routinely (and legally) prescribe drugs “off label” — that is, for conditions not approved by the FDA–for any use they see fit. Most don’t tell their patients. The results of this practice are alarming.”

Klonopin (clonazepam), an anti-anxiety drug, is routinely prescribed off-label for restless leg syndrome and insomnia, for which there is insufficient evidence for its effectiveness — let alone the fact that it poses an addiction risk and a risk of birth defects when prescribed to pregnant women.

Trazodone, an antidepressant, is routinely prescribed off-label for insomnia, but a black box warning says it increases suicidal thinking in children, teens, and young adults.

Seroquel (quertiapine) and Abilify (aripiprozole), antipsychotics, are routinely prescribed off-label for dementia, but the FDA has issued black box warnings about their use by people with dementia, which ups their risk of death. By the way, it doesn’t actually treat dementia, it is only used to suppress a person’s agitation.

“One reason drug companies may want more freedom to market or advertise drugs for unapproved uses is to eliminate financial penalties for off-label promotions.” Johnson & Johnson was fined $2.2 billion in 2013 for illegally promoting the off-label use of the antipsychotic Risperdal (risperidone). GlaxoSmithKline was fined $3 billion in 2012 for promoting the off-label use of the antidepressant Paxil (paroxetine).

All the more reason to learn how to protect yourself, your family and friends, with full informed consent. Courts have determined that informed consent for people who receive prescriptions for psychotropic (mood-altering) drugs must include the doctor providing “information about…possible side effects and benefits, ways to treat side effects, and risks of other conditions…,” as well as, “information about alternative treatments.”

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Latuda Changes its Spots

Posted on February 9, 2017 by cchrstl

We’ve written previously about Latuda, an antidepressant. Now, the TV commercials for this dangerous psychiatric drug are claiming that it is for “bipolar depression” because that is different than just plain old depression.

The Latuda web site says that bipolar depression refers to the depressive phase of bipolar disorder, which is “different from other forms of depression,” having different “treatments.” In 2014 Latuda was number 95 on the list of top selling psychiatric drugs. It is estimated that about one in six American adults are taking at least one psychiatric drug.

What a crock!

This is akin to a public relations technique known as “propaganda by redefinition of words.” This is not a natural evolution of language, it is a deliberate propaganda technique to change public opinion, in this case to the advantage of the psycho-pharmaceutical industry by boosting sales of this drug for a new diagnosis.

The way to do this is to get the new definition repeated as often as possible; in this case through television and magazine ads.

Ah, so Johnny no longer has “depression”, he has “bipolar depression” — disassociating negative connotations of “depression” from the word by making a new term which miraculously can now be “treated” with this drug.

Regardless of the hokey diagnosis, still no one knows how this drug “works”; and the lengthy list of adverse reactions — well, that’s just the way it “works.”

This is also related to the psychiatric tendency to describe rather than to cure. So there are all kinds of bipolar now, and all kinds of depression, each with their own entry in the DSM and potentially their own “treatment”. In DSM-IV there were eight separate line items for bipolar diagnoses, and eight separate line items for various forms of depression. The DSM-V codes expand that to 58 line items for bipolar and 75 for depression.

Having all these different terms for essentially the same thing means that it is easier to say someone has it just by saying a big word. And psychiatrists have set themselves up as the only authorities who know what it means. Go ahead, say “Amphetamine (or other stimulant)-induced bipolar and related disorder, With moderate or severe use disorder” three times fast. Well, maybe not easier for you to say.

Talk about “fake news!” It’s all the rage now to point to various media and call the news fake. So we’re calling this news about “bipolar depression” totally fake. Fortunately, the real news can be found with diligent observation. Please do so! Find Out! Fight Back!

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Take Action – Missouri Legislature – Foster Care

Posted on January 31, 2017 by cchrstl

Periodically we let you know the progress of various proposed legislation making its way through the Missouri General Assembly and suggest ways for you to contribute your viewpoint to your state Representative and state Senator.

You can find your Representative and Senator, and their contact information, by entering your 9-digit zip code here.

This time, we’d like to discuss Senate Bill SB160, which Creates the Foster Care Bill of Rights, sponsored by Senator David Sater (R, District 29).

“This act establishes and enumerates the Foster Care Bill of Rights. The Children’s Division shall provide every school-aged foster child and his or her foster parent with an age-appropriate orientation and explanation of the bill of rights, as well as make them readily available and easily accessible online. Additionally, every Children’s Division office, residential care facility, child placing agency, or other agency involved in the care and placement of foster children shall post the bill of rights in the office, facility, or agency.”

This foster care bill of rights is primarily concerned with familial stability, which we think is a good thing. We would like to suggest an amendment aimed at reducing the amount of harmful psychotropic drugs regularly given to foster children in Missouri’s care.

Missouri Foster Care serves individuals age 0 to 21; not all states provide care to age 21. In FY2014 Missouri extended Medicaid benefits up to age 26 for individuals who have aged out of foster care. Medicaid pays for the psychotropic drugs given to foster children.

The high rates of psychotropic medication use in the Medicaid population, risks associated with these drugs, and research documenting inappropriate prescribing, have raised concerns, especially for children involved in the child welfare system.

Studies suggest that appropriate prescribing practices, that is, adhering to FDA-approved use and accepted clinical guidelines, may not always be followed for certain Medicaid populations such as the high-risk populations of children in foster care. In actual fact, multiple studies and reports have found that children in foster care are vulnerable to inappropriate or excessive medication use. Children in foster care are often prescribed more than one psychotropic medication at the same time. A review in Missouri once found some children in foster care prescribed five or more psychotropic drugs.

Psychotropic Drug Classes given to children in Missouri foster care (contact CCHR STL at CCHRSTL@CCHRSTL.ORG  for the complete report, or download it from cchrstl.org/foster.shtml):

ADHD
Antianxiety
AntidepressantAntipsychotic_Combo
Antidepressants_MAOIs
Antidepressants_SSRIsAndSimilar
Antidepressants_Tricyclics
Antipsychotics_FirstGeneration
Antipsychotics_SecondGeneration
Barbiturates
Bipolar Disorder
InsomniaNarcolepsySleepDisorders

Total foster care drug costs in Missouri have averaged roughly $16 Million per year, with a total for the five years 2010-2014 over $81 Million. All of these psychotropic drugs given to Missouri foster care children between the ages of 0 and 26 are harmful and can have serious side effects including violence and suicide.

The top costs are for ADHD drugs and Antipsychotics for all ages. ADHD drug costs appear to be increasing year over year. Babies less than a year old are more commonly given Barbiturates, one presumes as a remedy for insomnia. Barbiturates are highly dangerous because of the small difference between a
normal dose and an overdose.

For all these reasons, CCHR would like to see an amendment for SB160 to this effect:

Foster Children have the right:
(a) To be free of the administration of medication or chemical substances unless authorized by a physician,
(b) To be informed of the risks and benefits of psychotropic medication in an age appropriate manner,
(c) To tell their doctor that they disagree with any recommendation to prescribe psychotropic medication,
(d) To go to the judge with an advocate of their choice and state that they object to any recommendation to prescribe psychotropic medication,
(e) To refuse the administration of psychotropic or other medication unless immediately necessary for the preservation of life or the prevention of serious bodily harm,
(f) To refuse the off-label prescription of psychotropic drugs and at-risk polypharmacy,
(g) To have prescribing doctors disclose any financial ties they have to pharmaceutical companies in writing in an age appropriate manner.

Contact your Missouri state Representative and Senator, and let them know what you think about this. Such an amendment to the proposed legislation would certainly strengthen the rights of foster children and reduce the administration of psychiatric drugs, since they are all inherently damaging to young children and should not be held as standards of care.

For more information click here.

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The First Line of Therapy

Posted on January 23, 2017 by cchrstl

Dr. Hansa Bhargava, a practicing pediatrician and medical editor with Medscape, is starting to recognize that drugs should not be the first line of therapy for children with symptoms of difficult behavior.

While ADHD itself is a fake illness, the observed symptoms are real, and the root causes must be diagnosed, recognized, and treated for whatever they are.

Children are being diagnosed with symptoms of so-called ADHD at younger and younger ages. Instilling good behavior and lifestyle habits as they grow will help them improve as they move into adolescence and adulthood.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that almost 1 in 2 preschoolers with a “diagnosis” of ADHD get no behavioral therapy, but instead get drugs as the first form of “treatment.”

There is growing evidence that the first approach in addressing these symptoms should be nonpharmacological.

For example, the National Sleep Foundation reported that as many as 80% of teens do not get enough sleep. Sleep-deprived kids often lack focus and may have symptoms of hyperactivity, which can mistakenly be attributed to this fake disease. Dehydration may have effects on one’s ability to control one’s behavior. And exercise is well established as important for overall physical fitness, growth, and mood, but it turns out that it may be particularly helpful in kids with behavioral symptoms.

A “diagnosis” of ADHD is based solely on opinion, and should never be taken as a fact before non-psychiatric, clinical evidence determines what is actually medically the case.

What is ADHD then? In 1987, “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder” (ADHD) was literally voted into existence by a show of hands of American Psychiatric Association members and included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Within a year, 500,000 children in America alone were diagnosed with this. It is an excuse to sell drugs and make money.

ADHD actually represents the spontaneous behaviors of normal children. When these behaviors become age-inappropriate, excessive or disruptive, the potential causes are limitless, including: boredom, poor teaching, inconsistent discipline at home, reading difficulty, tiredness, street drugs, nutritional deficiency, toxic overload, and many kinds of underlying physical illness.

There is no valid ADHD test for children. There is no valid ADHD test for adults. ADHD in adults is just as bogus as ADHD in children.

The ADHD diagnosis does not identify a genuine biological or psychological disorder. The diagnosis is simply a list of behaviors that may appear disruptive or inappropriate.

Click here for more information.

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Drugging Children in Missouri Foster Care

Posted on January 18, 2017 by cchrstl

The high rates of psychotropic medication use in the Medicaid population, risks associated with these drugs, and research documenting inappropriate prescribing, have raised concerns, especially for children involved in the child welfare system.

Studies suggest that appropriate prescribing practices, that is, adhering to FDA-approved use and accepted clinical guidelines, may not always be followed for certain Medicaid populations such as the high-risk populations of children in foster care. In actual fact, multiple studies and reports have found that children in foster care are vulnerable to inappropriate or excessive drug use. Children in foster care are often prescribed more than one psychotropic drug at the same time. A review in Missouri once found some children in foster care prescribed five or more psychotropic drugs.

Missouri Foster Care serves individuals age 0 to 21; not all states provide care to age 21. In FY2014 Missouri extended Medicaid benefits up to age 26 for individuals who have aged out of foster care.

In Fiscal Year 2015, Department of Social Services MO Healthnet (Medicaid) spent $1,254,900,000 for pharmacy services for 883,672 people, approximately 60% of whom were children. There were an average of 13,033 children monthly in Foster Care (19,429 individuals for the year.) The total 2015 state population of children under 18 was 1,399,075.

(Data is primarily from the Missouri Department of Social Services and Child Division reports available on the state website dss.mo.gov, as well as various Medicaid-related publications, and sites such as the Medicaid Statistical Information System.)

Average number of MO Children in Foster Care per month by Fiscal Year:

FYAvg # of Children per MonthTotal Individuals per Year
200312,246
200411,634
200511,402
200610,904
200710,571
20089,760
20099,532
20109,785
201110,53616,493
201211,05917,160
201311,25718,289
201412,10418,290
201513,03319,429

You can see that over the last four years, Missouri has been experiencing an increase in the Foster Care population, which in 2015 was the highest in the previous 12 years; indicating at the very least unmanageable caseloads.

The average age of a child in Missouri Foster Care is 10 years old, and spends an average of 24 months in foster care.

In 2014, for example, there were 7,259 Children entering or reentering state custody. There were 24,388 children, in or out of foster care, who were receiving public mental health services (meaning they were likely on one or more psychotropic drugs.)

For 2008, Medicaid Pharmacy Benefit statistics for Missouri from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show 122,274 children 5 years of age or younger; 121,095 ages 6 to 14; and 54,645 ages 15 to 20. This includes children in foster care. The top drug group for all these prescriptions in terms of cost was antipsychotics.

Missouri consistently ranks nationally in the bottom one-third of overall health status as compared to other states. Nationally, about 14 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries used a psychotropic medication during calendar year 2011. In 2011, Medicaid spent about $8 billion in fee for service for psychotropic medications—30 percent of the program’s total fee-for-service drug spending.

Some General Observations from the Data
1. Top costs are for ADHD drugs and Antipsychotics for all ages.
2. ADHD drug costs appear to be increasing year over year.
3. Babies less than a year old are more commonly given Barbiturates, one presumes as a remedy for insomnia. Barbiturates are highly dangerous because of the small difference between a normal dose and an overdose.
4. Total foster care drug costs have averaged roughly $16 Million per year, with a total for the five years 2010-2014 over $81 Million.

Drug Classes given to children in Missouri foster care (ask us for a copy of the full report):
ADHD
Antianxiety
AntidepressantAntipsychotic_Combo
Antidepressants_MAOIs
Antidepressants_SSRIsAndSimilar
Antidepressants_Tricyclics
Antipsychotics_FirstGeneration
Antipsychotics_SecondGeneration
Barbiturates
Bipolar Disorder
InsomniaNarcolepsySleepDisorders

 

Recommendations / Model Legislation
§ As an example, there are currently close to 63,000 children and youth in California’s Child Welfare System. Refer to this model legislation from California:
California Assembly Bill AB-1067
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1067
Approved by the Governor 09/30/16.
Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to convene a working group to develop standardized information about the rights of all minors and nonminors in foster care, and expands requirements regarding the distribution of information regarding these rights.

§ As another example, see this draft copy of suggested California legislation to expand the rights of children in foster care regarding the use of psychotropic drugs:
http://www.cchrstl.org/documents/Draft%20CA%20Foster%20Care%20Bill.pdf
A bill to amend the existing Foster Child Bill of Rights (WIC 16001.9) to strengthen the rights of foster children to participate in any decision to require mental health treatment and psychotropic medication. The state of California finds that Foster Children are subjected to excessive diagnosis and treatment by psychotropic medications, and hereby amends the Foster Child Bill of Rights to include the following additional protections for children under the care of Child Protective Services.
Section 16001.9 (a) 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:
(5) (a) To be free of the administration of medication or chemical substances unless authorized by physician,
(b) To be informed of the risks and benefits of psychotropic medication in an age appropriate manner,
(c) To tell their doctor that they disagree with any recommendation to prescribe psychotropic medication,
(d) To go to the judge with an advocate of their choice and state that they object to any recommendation to prescribe psychotropic medication,
(e) To refuse the administration of psychotropic or other medication unless immediately necessary for the preservation of life or the prevention of serious bodily harm,
(f) To refuse the off-label prescription of psychotropic drugs and at-risk polypharmacy,
(g) To have prescribing doctors disclose any financial ties they have to pharmaceutical companies in writing in an age appropriate manner.

§ Go here to download more information about drugging foster care children:
http://www.cchrstl.org/documents/facts_about_foster_care_children.pdf

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Remembering Carrie and Debbie

Posted on January 6, 2017 by cchrstl

We are sincerely grieved at Carrie Fisher’s death December 27th from heart failure. When we read that Carrie Fisher suffered a heart attack December 23rd on a plane flight from London to Los Angeles, we were shocked.

Fisher as Princess Leia was just 19 years old when she began shooting “Star Wars.” By the time she was 21 she was doing LSD in an attempt to self-medicate. In 2011 she confessed to Oprah that she had electroshock therapy every six weeks, since the antidepressants were not entirely effective in dealing with her mental issues, suffering memory loss as a result. She was hospitalized in 2013 for so-called bipolar disorder, and she was still taking psychotropic drugs and getting ECT.

One can only assume such treatment continued into present time, so it is now hardly shocking that she has suffered a heart attack as well. The amazing part is her resilience. All those drugs and electric shocks through the years, in a normal person, may well have been fatal far sooner.

Any benefit one claims for ECT, no matter how famous one is, has to speak only for a person’s innate strength, since ECT, as well as psychotropic drugs, is patently damaging.

A cursory review of over 200 psychotropic drugs shows that every one has potential adverse effects of heart attacks or other heart-related problems. During ECT, the heart rate is severely impacted, either speeding up or slowing down dramatically. Most deaths reported during or immediately after ECT are cardiovascular in nature.

And now, the FDA wants to reclassify ElectroConvulsive Therapy machines to exempt them from clinical testing if they are similar to machines currently being marketed, which effectively means they do not have to be demonstrated as safe and effective.

Frankly, the FDA should simply ban outright the use of psychotropic drugs and ECT machines as being dangerous and harmful.

We are doubly saddened by the passing of Debbie Reynolds, Fisher’s mother, just a day after Fisher’s death. Debbie Reynolds was recognized for her decades-long commitment to various charities, including the mental-health organization The Thalians, a group of entertainment professionals who support mental health care issues. Reynolds was among the founders of the Thalians charity group in 1955, and was the Thalians’ third president. A mental health center at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center was named after the organization. It closed in 2012 and the Thalians now raise funds for veterans with mental health issues in association with the UCLA Medical Center. Honor the memory of both Carrie and Debbie by working with CCHR to continue to bring sanity to the mental health care profession.

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Psychiatric Hospital Chain (UHS) Loses $1.5 Billion within 6 Hours

Posted on January 1, 2017 by cchrstl

Largest U.S. Psychiatric Hospital Chain (UHS) Loses $1.5 Billion within 6 Hours

Following BuzzFeed News Exposé

In the past 18 months, Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) has filed over 2,860 official complaints against Universal Health Services (UHS) behavioral facilities with state and federal agencies, the FBI, healthcare fraud control units, and state and federal legislators. CCHR has documented potential fraud and abuse and, therefore, applauds a recent BuzzFeed News exposé – the results of its own year-long investigation into UHS. Within 6 hours of the BuzzFeed News article, stock in UHS, the largest chain of psychiatric facilities in the U.S., that treats 450,000 people annually, plummeted $1.5 billion.

Like CCHR, BuzzFeed News interviewed whistleblowers and staff from UHS psych facilities to obtain its information. It independently documented allegations that UHS staff were pressured to:

  • “Fill beds” by whatever means necessary.
  • “Exaggerate people’s symptoms” or “twist their words” in order to hold them against their will.
  • Lock the door and keep patients until their insurance payments run out.

In response to the BuzzFeed News exposé, three federal legislators have called for a full investigation into UHS, with Senator Charles Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, demanding that the Department of Health and Human Services report what steps are being taken to investigate the patient abuse and fraud claims against UHS psych hospitals. “The pattern of conduct described by the report paints a picture of greed and raises serious questions about patient safety.” Rep. Joe Kennedy III spoke of “abuse, neglect, fraud” at UHS behavioral facilities with “an emphasis of profits over treatment and care.” And Sen. Elizabeth Warren, stated: “The Department of Justice [DOJ] must put an end to these shameful practices for the safety of patients….”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has declined to respond to Senator Grassley’s request due to the legal constraints of ongoing investigations, although it has agreed to brief the Senator’s office.

UHS’s 211 for-profit psychiatric hospitals in the United States earned $7.5 billion in revenues last year. More than a third of the company’s overall revenue comes from taxpayers through Medicare and Medicaid. There are three UHS hospitals in Missouri: Heartland Behavioral Health Services in Nevada; Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute in St. Louis; and Two Rivers Behavioral Health System in Kansas City.

CCHR says its website offers an easy online form for families of patients treated in UHS behavioral hospitals or staff to report in confidence any allegations of abuse. Click here to file a report. CCHR has assisted whistleblowers in getting their allegations reported to the proper authorities for action, but says in the interests of patient welfare, federal investigations should come to a quick resolution.

Help CCHR get this new information broadly known and distributed to state and federal policy makers, law enforcement and health agencies across the country. The for-profit psychiatric hospital system is putting patients at serious risk and with this recent exposé and the legislators’ call, it is vital that we share the evidence that we have about UHS and other privately owned behavioral hospital chains. Visit CCHR STL to donate and see what you can do about this.

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