"The massive over-drugging of America's youth is an unfolding national horror," says attorney Jim Gottstein, the leader of the Law Project. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop Alaska from authorizing or paying for psychotropic drugs prescribed to children in foster care or children covered by Medicaid "without safeguards being in place to make sure proper decision making occurs."Specifically, the complaint is asking for a court order prohibiting the State from giving or paying for these drugs unless and until: (i) evidence-based psychosocial interventions have been exhausted, (ii) rationally anticipated benefits of psychotropic drug treatment outweigh the risks, (iii) the person or entity authorizing administration of the drug(s) is fully informed, and (iv) close monitoring of, and appropriate means of responding to, treatment emergent effects are in place.
"The corrupt influence of the pharmaceutical industry in illegally promoting much of this drugging has been well established," Mr Gottstein says, "yet the state continues to inflict great harm on the children it has taken away from their families by giving them these drugs."
"It is absurd to think all these children have a mental illness," he adds. "They are being drugged because they are upset and bothering people...because decisions to administer medication to children are not made by the children themselves, the administration of psychotropic drugs is involuntary."
Under the Alaska Constitution, he says, involuntary administration of such drugs infringes upon fundamental rights and the state must have a compelling state interest in doing so. They must be in the best interest of the children and there must be no less intrusive alternatives, the lawsuit notes.
Governor Sarah Palin is named as a defendant in the lawsuit because she is ultimately responsible for the protection of children as Governor of Alaska. "I doubt anyone on the Governor's staff has even let her know about the problem despite my trying to bring it to her attention ever since she took office," Mr Gottstein notes.
In fact, as far back as March 14, 2007, he emailed Governor Palin about children in custody in other states dying from the administration of psychotropic drugs, and stated:
"The massive over-drugging of America's children and youth is a titanic health catastrophe caused by the government's failure to protect its most precious citizens, who rely on the adults in their lives to shield them from harm, not inflict it upon them. Perhaps the worst of all is the State inflicting this harm on children and youth it has taken from their homes "for their own good."
Mr Gottstein concluded by asking her to, "Please correct this situation." On February 4, 2008, he wrote to Governor Palin again, in hopes of avoiding a lawsuit, and sent copies to the Attorney General and others, conveying scientific evidence regarding the harm being done by the over-prescribing of psychotropic drugs to children, and stated in part:
"Children and youth are virtually always forced to take these drugs because,
with rare exception, it is not their choice. PsychRights believes the children and youth, themselves, have the legal right to not be subject to such harmful treatment at the hands of the State of Alaska.
"We are therefore evaluating what legal remedies might be available to them. However, instead of going down that route, it would be my great preference to be able to work together to solve this problem. It is for this reason that I am reaching out to you again on this issue."
"Fewer than ten percent of psychotropic drugs are FDA-approved for any psychiatric use in children and youth," the lawsuit alleges.
In the February 2009 New York Review, former New England Journal of Medicine editor and Senior Lecturer in Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Dr Marcia Angell, wrote:
"Although it is illegal to promote drugs for use in children if the FDA has not approved them for that use, the law is frequently circumvented by disguising marketing as education or research. Eli Lilly recently agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle civil and criminal charges of marketing the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa for uses not approved by the FDA (known as "off-label" uses). Zyprexa, which has serious side effects, is one of the drugs frequently used off-label to treat children diagnosed with bipolar disorder."
She went on to state: "Unlike migraines or shyness, hypertension or high cholesterol can be defined by an objective measurement—a blood pressure or cholesterol level. One can dispute the threshold chosen as abnormal, but the measurement is easily verifiable. The fact that psychiatric conditions are not objectively verifiable underscores the necessity for both diagnosis and treatment to be as impartial as possible. That is why conflicts of interest are more serious in this field than in most others."
Mr Gottstein's complaint lays out the evidence of harm to children caused by psychiatric drugs as documented by a program titled, "Critical Risk Rx, A Critical Curriculum on Psychotropic Medications," designed by a team led by Dr David Cohen, a Professor at Florida International University.
The purpose of the "Critical Think Rx" program is to promote critical thinking skills about psychiatric medication issues related to the authorization of the administration of psychotropic drugs to young patients. The program was developed under a grant from the Attorneys General Consumer and Prescriber Grant Program through the multi-state settlement with Pfizer of consumer fraud claims regarding the off-label promotion of Neurontin, one of the anti-seizure drugs marketed as a mood stabilizer.
READ MORE Psychiatrist-Malpractice LEGAL NEWS
The "best practices" recommended in the lawsuit were assembled by the Critical Think team and have been proven effective, Mr Gottstein advises.
Part 2 Next week: The Major Turning Point: the Death of Rebecca Riley
Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for Scoop Independent News and an investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government and corporate America.
This report was written as part of the Pharmaceutical Litigation Roundup series and sponsored by the Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman law firm.
READER COMMENTS
JEFF CLARK
on
AFTER 3 YRS. FLA. ATTY. GEN. OFFICE ADMITTED TO THEIR CRIMES, JUDGE IMMEDIATELY ORDERED MY DAUGHTER OFF THE DRUGS AND RETURNED TO ME, HER FATHER OF 8 YRS. HER FIRST WORDS WERE, "YOUR MY DAD" ? THEY USED THE ILLEGAL DRUGS AND THERAPY TO DESTROY OUR FAMILY AND ERASE ALL OUR PAST MEMORIES! THE DR.S (FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY, INDIA) THINK ITS OK TO DRUG AMERICAN CHILDREN, ITS A RACIAL GENOCIDE, I VOW TO DESTROY ALL THESE TERRORIST.
ELois P. Clayton
on
I'm PLEADING with Dr. Breggin, attorney Jim Gottstein, attorney Randy Kretchmar and any other reknown attorneys and doctors(and experts) who are AGAINST psychotropic drugs being forced on adults AND children, to contact my brother's attorney(Larry Redmond, at (773)733-0830) and assist him at receiving justice for my brother David P., who has been RAPED and assaulted in many other ways(including having " concocted incidences"(as rodneyyoder.com calls them), be instigated and orchestrated against him for the purpose of justifying forcing him into RESTRAINTS, ISOLATION and forced PRN liquids and PRN shots!
ALERT!
David's LIVER is "according to his "LCSW", Travis Nottmiar), "turning green and is being monitored".
Chester MHC employees(in Chester, Illinois), has attempted to make him believe that his family is trying to "control him"(words spoken by "Dr. Brazil Sawyer";along with Dr. M V. Reddy, who is also involved in interfering in us(David's sisters, ), gaining POA over David to PROTECT him as much as we can from CMHC(NOT control him as Dr, Brazil Sawyer stated to him immediately after speaking by phone with I(Mrs. ELois;David sister), when this "doctor" stated to David, that, "you don't want your family controlling you do you"?, AFTER she reassured I, that "I will make sure David retrieves the POA FORMS to fill out for you and your sister to become his POA's".
ALERT!
This "Dr. M V Reddy, has for YEARS interfered in us receiving David's POA's by telling us*for YEARS), that, "David don't need no GUARDIAN", but if that is the case, WHY is he and Davids' other "treatment team:" constantly interfering in him retrieving those POA FORMS to make the decision for his family to be appointed his POA's(which is what CMHC has been doing;interfering in this process)!
ALERT!
We(sisters), has even been told by a Mr. WYLER that "your complaints that you have submitted against the doctors and nurses and guards(who has RAPED him) will be CLOSED until you get POA over David".
ALERT!
Chester Police Department, has denied David his RIGHT to press charges against guards who has assaulted him for years(such as Chris Roberts, Depa, Don Berry, Ken, Clarence, etc.) NOTE: As I was typing this information, I received a call from his "treatment team", stating that today(10.15.2013), is David TPR day.
After I retrieved ALL names present(as I normally do), I learned that CHRIS ROBERTS(one of the guards whom we have gotten a complaint 'SUBSTANTIATED against), was present at this TPR.
I got the "normal" reports of "David has had no issues and has been doing quite good, BUT, he have "issues with following directions"(which is how they munipulate trying to justify the FALSE reports written up into his CHARTS daily AND try to munipulate getting away with falsely forcing PRN shots and restraints and isolations, from their concocted incidences that they uses to justify putting him on RED(bad) level, then YELLOW level;avoiding putting him on GREEN(good) level, in their attempt still to justify DENYING him his long overdue TRANSFER OUT of CMHC for preparation for him to be released home to us his family who love him.
ALERT!
X Head Admin.(Patricia Kelley-Mosbacher), has LIED saying to I by phone conversation that, "any sexual acts that exist at CMHC, is "consentual".
That is a mental hospital and besides, David has NEVER approved of being RAPED by anyone!
On many occasions, patients are afraid that if they don't comply other assaults will happen to them(as Chris Roberts threaten to have his wife beat I(Mrs. Clayton) up, the next time I visit then threatened to have David transferred to Unit B3, have his eye put out and have him beaten with a CHAIR.
Another patient eye was damaged and he was beaten with a chair, but a rumor was spreaded to frighten patients and to make David and other appear to be schizophrenic(attempt to again justify the false diagnosis they have been bestowed with and to attempt to justify the forced spychotropic drugs being forced on them daily) that this beaten patient died. He did not die.
ALERT!
"PLEASE HELP", is the message rodneyyoder.com sent and that is the SAME message we're sending for our David!
ALERT!
There are (24) patients BURIED in a cemetery about (5) minutes SOUTH of CMHC (in the back near the river) and I'm afraid that David will wound up there if he doesn't get released from CMHC(as we have been told in '2006'(by LCSW Lynn Hubert and his other (at the time) treatment team members) and again by Dr. Debra Ferguson on 04.02.2012(when my sister and I met with her Face-To-Face at her DHS Chicago downtown office)!
I DEMANDED a Face-To-Face meeting on 02.17.2010 AND on 04.02.2012, because of the many UNprovoked assaults David was subjected to, because he has been told to always speak up for himself and stand up for himself from ANY guards(or otherwise) assaults!
ALERT!
We have been told BOTH times that "David is doing so well that he has been put on the LIST with (6) others, to be transferred OUT of CMHC" and this Dr. Ferguson stated to my sister and I that, "I've seen David myself and he's doing quite well and I'll see that NOTHING goes wrong with his transfer OUT of CMHC".
This came BEFORE MORE lies and incidences were concocted against him,because he was still constantly being SYSTEMICALLY blamed for guards and a few of the violent inmate/patients at CMHC.
ALERT!
One of our sisters' was JAILED for ()30) days, because she DEFENDED herself from guards who assaulted her in their attempt to stop her from visiting our brother.
They LIED saying that she assaulted them, when she is a muslim and do NOT allow men to touch her;not even old family acquaintances, so I KNOW they lied on her when they say she assaulted them.
They were trying to intimidate her from giving David a HUG good-bye when she told them, "you can't stop I from saying good-bye to my brother"!
ALERT!
I have had the opportunity to met rodneyyoder.com and he CONFIRMED to I that he was looking out of the window when they put our sister in the police car(Yoder was not released until '2005'. This happen in '2001').
ALERT!
CMHC attorneys are trying to get the judge to grant a 'CHANGE of VENUE' so that they can do more harm to our David in Kane County, Randolph County or one of their other corrupt railroading counties.
ALERT!
David was sentenced to ELGIN (medium), NOT CMHC (maximum), because he was DEFENDING himself from being shot at and another LIE was told on him while in Elgin which "Dr". SAM(psychiatrist), used to railroad David to CMHC!
This Dr. SAM, is used OFTEN to help CMHC get patients sent to CMHC!
NOTE: ALSO, a "Dr." LAMBERT made a statement to I by phone(FOIA proofs), that, "Chester don't transfer patients out of CMHC." "We just transfer patients in", yet many has been transferred out of CMHC;even ones who has assaulted David.
David should have been the one transferred to a 'Less Restricted Environment'
ALERT!
Statue 405 of the DISABILITIES CODE PROHIBITS ABUSE of ANY KIND, yet Chester MHC has VIOLATED this code/law for years and they MUST be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!