Psychiatric Drugs: TeenScreen Draws Criticism, Legal Challenge
TeenScreen, a program to screen America's school children for "mental illness" to be treated with often addictive drugs prescribed by a pharma-driven treatment algorithm, is making waves. The parents of a girl who was given a questionaire and subsequently diagnosed with obsessive compulsive and social anxiety disorder are up in arms about the testing and say they will take all legal remedies available to them. Evelyn Pringle discusses the case and the screening program's backgroundhere.
According to a recent message of Vera Hassner Sharav of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, the parents have found a good lawyer to take on the case:
The high profile civil libertarian Rutherford Institute has taken up the case of Mike and Teresa Rhoades whose15-year old daughter was screened in her Indiana school for mental illness -- without their permission. John Whitehead, the founder of the Institute who is a high profile constitutional lawyer believes that there are "clear constitutional and privacy violations involved."The aggressive tactics of TeenScreen and its blatant disregard for the rights of parents to make decisions for the minor children is being watched across the nation.
The Coles County (Illinois) Leader reports that the school by-passed parental rights, side-stepping federal laws that empower parents to give permission for their children for medical and psychological issues. Instead the school had the minor child sign an "assent form" whose legitimacy and legal standing will, no doubt, be argued in court -- since parents, not children have the responsibility of making decisions affecting their welfare.
Whitehead, who called mandatory screening an "Orwellian Nightmare" said he considers the opposition to be formidable foes," because of the financial backing of pharmaceutical companies and the Bush administration's support through the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health."
In a previous comment, Hassner Sharav also says that Senators Chuck Grassley and Max Baucus are looking into the pharmaceutical funding, by "educational grants", that seems to have influenced the drafting of the treatment guidelines.
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ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP)
Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and Accountability
Newsworthy developments about the duo-drug promotion scam—TeenScreen & TMAP:A. The first legal challenge against TeenScreen, the mental health screening scheme that is invading the public school system across the nation, declaring otherwise normal children to be mentally ill, has been filed in Indiana.
The parents of a child who was screened without their permission and deemed to have two mental disorders, have filed intent to sue documents. Once diagnosed with a medical condition, parents who disagree with a prescribed treatment—even if the treatment is harmful—parents often find that their rights to make medical decisions for their child have been overridden by government mental health officials.
Last week a government-sponsored Harvard study pronounced 50% of Americans suffer from mental illness sometimes. But the only evidence of a mental illness epidemic is to be found within the mental health provider industry whose members are trained to secure their employment by discovering undetected mental illness in every man, woman and child who they can stop long enough to ask a few pointed questions.
B. On June 10, 2005, Senators Chuck Grassley and Max Baucus of the Senate Finance Committee issued a Press Release stating that they have asked a number of large drug makers to explain their practice of giving money to state governments and other organizations in the form of “educational grants.” The senators are concerned that the grants are more focused on product promotion than education:
"We need to know how this behind-the-scenes funneling of money is influencing decision makers," Grassley said, "The decisions result in the government spending billions of dollars on drugs. The tactics look aggressive, and the response on behalf of the public needs to be just as vigorous."Evelyn Pringle has been doing a bang up job connecting the dots that show the money trail behind TeenScreen and TMAP.
TeenScreen, the brainchild of Columbia University psychiatrist, David Shaffer, is run by Laurie Flynn, who previously had been at the helm of NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) when it was co-opted by the pharmaceutical industry. [1]
Pringle reports that in Congressional testimony, Flynn bragged about her associations with government officials in Florida stating:
"TeenScreen Program staff has been working with Governor Jeb Bush to help achieve his goal of reducing suicides in the state. We have specifically collaborated with Jim McDonough, Director of the Office of Drug Control and the state Suicide Prevention Talk Force. In partnership with the University of South Florida we are piloting district wide mental health screening of 9th graders in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties." [2]“Collaboration” with Jim McDonough, Pringle reports, involved TeenScreen paying him $180,000 to get TeenScreen set up. Furthermore, Pringle reports that in an e-mail to McDonough, Flynn reveals her true objective:
“I'm looking for a horse to ride in here! ... I need to get some kids screened -- if the schools are a road block we are interested in community organizations. Next week we are talking with the Boys and Girls Club in Pinellas. ... I also think we should see if local agencies or businesses could be engaged in "community screenings." [2]AHRP board member, psychiatrist, Stefan Kruszeuski, MD, who was in charge of investigating Pennsylvania's mental health and substance abuse programs for fraud, waste, and abuse, was fired when he blew the whistle on corrupt relations between the state's politicians and pharmaceutical industry representatives.
Allen Jones, the former inspector with the Pennsylvania Inspector General’s office blew the whistle on pay offs by drug companies to state agencies and officials who were in positions to approve the TMAP practice guidelines. [3] So far the information provided by Kruszeuski and Jones has resulted in the reprimand and fine of Penn’s state’s Pharmacist, Steven Fiorello. [4]
TeenScreen was stopped in Florida, but the TeenScreen/ TMAP strategy poses a threat for every community.
AHRP board member, pediatrician, Karen Effrem, MD, summarized the folly of mental health screening: "Given the very real problems of already existing coercion, subjective criteria, dangerous and ineffective medication, and the failure of screening to prevent suicide ... Congress would be wise to withhold the $44 million requested for state grants."
Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
212-595-8974
veracare@ahrp.orgReferences:
1. Pringle, E. TeenScreen - Angel of Mercy or Pill-Pusher for Drug Industry, OpEd News, April 15, 2005
2. Pringle, E. Meet Laurie Flynn: TeenScreen's Top Pusher, CounterPunch, June 6, 2005:
3. See, Allen Jones Report (PDF document)
4. See: Penn State Pharmacist Fined for Ethics Violations & Taking Cash from Pfizer
Evelyn Pringle's latest article: Scoop-New Zealand Independent Media
TeenScreen - The Law Suits Begin- - -
June 2006: Newly obtained documents detail a milestone in the fight against TeenScreen.
TeenScreen has been using "passive consent" to bypass parents. If a parent did not return the passive consent form to the school, then TeenScreen considered that the parent consented. What about a child who loses the form or a parent who forgets? They consented!One document, now available here written by TeenScreen Director, Leslie McGuire states:
"Effective August 1, 2006, all school-based sites will be required to obtain written ("active") consent from the parents or legal guardians of minor students." "For some sites, the updated policy and forms will be a departure from the way in which they currently operate, but I want to assure you that we did not make this decision lightly and that we will be available to help make this a straightforward transition for you and your staff."Notice Leslie says "school based sites". What about the TeenScreen sites in homeless shelters and juvenile detention centers?"TeenScreen's standard forms are designed to meet the consent requirements of the federal Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) which applies to state educational agencies, local educational agencies and other recipients of funds from the Department of Education."It's about time they finally realized a federal law prohibits passive consent.In a previously obtained e-mail obtained under public records law, a TeenScreen official stated that:
"The Passive acceptance style was mostly discussed to increase the numbers from 50% for Consent (active written parental) to near 95% for Passive."So this means TeenScreen's business will be cut directly in half by abolishing passive consent.
The consent issue is only one beef parents across the country have had with TeenScreen's psychiatric intrusion. Some other concerns are government intervention into the lives of families, treatment of kids with dangerous drugs after screening, the unscientific nature of the surveys, the fact that 84% of the children come away with a false label and even having these psychiatric tests in schools to begin with.
If you're doing anything to contribute, please continue. If you're not doing anything, please start!
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A message by Sue Weibert as forwarded by Vince Boehm...
Chelsea Rhoades was "TeenScreened" at her school in South Bend, Indiana. No one explained to her what it was really about and no officials asked for her parents's permission to test her.
Teresa and Michael Rhoades filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Madison Center, Inc., the psychiatric facility who screened their child. Chelsea, was a normal, happy and active student who gets good grades and helps mentor a girl at school. She came home from Penn High School labeled with an obsessive compulsive and social anxiety disorder.
"I was absolutely outraged that my daughter was told she had these two conditions based off a computer test," said Teresa.
Photo: Teresa Rhoades, right, her daughter, Chelsea, left
Please sign this petition set up by Chelsea Rhoades' mother, Teresa.
http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html
This petition will be sent to ALL legislators and can also be used by you to send to your school board members.
Forward this link to all your e-mail lists, friends, family and associates. Post a link on your website to alert others.
The faster that the 15,000 signatures are collected the faster it gets to your legislators!
Sue Weibert
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See also:December 15, 2005
Psy-screening and Mandatory Drugs for Everyone? The Genesis of President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
by Sue Weibert
Screening for mental illness is the most controversial topic concerning mental health today. Various government entities, private foundations, organizations, think tanks and universities, all flanked by cunning public relations firms, are hard at work trying to make mental health screening as common as a dental checkup. Despite public outrage over screening, these entities are working feverishly to establish this system. With so much clamor of disagreement for such a program, why, then, do these entities push forward with such ferocity? This article reveals exactly how this all got started, who's really behind "the big push," and how President Bush was tricked into establishing what might be the most detrimental program in the history of mankind.Support the Ron Paul Amendment Against Mental Health Screening
E-Action on amendment to federal appropriations bill, HR 3010Independent TEENSCREEN Evaluation Research Project
This is a page where you can find the actual text of the Teen Screen survey developed by MHS, Multi-Health Systems, Inc., Canada. Comments and evaluations are requested and will be posted.TeenScreen Sets Up Shop In Illinois
By Evelyn Pringle
A controversial plan to screen all Illinois school children for mental health disorders is set to become a reality on June 30th, if the Governor accepts the final proposal from the Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership (ICMHP).The Sierra Times:
Mental Health Screening in Schools Signals the End of Parental RightsAbleChild
Parents for Label and Drug Free Education consists of a growing number of parents outraged over both the subjective labeling (ADHD, ADD, OCD, ODD) and pervasive drugging of our children...AMERICA THE INSANE
Nancy Levant - June 28, 2005 - NewsWithViews.com
ItÂ's looking more and more like the American contribution to population reduction will be in the form of diagnosing half its citizens as mental incompetents...Evelyn Pringle: TeenScreen - Another Gross Distortion
Here's another gross distortion of the truth by TeenScreen. On its web site, in response to the question, is TeenScreen related to TMAP, the Texas Medication Algorithm Project? It says: "No. ... Some Web postings inappropriately and inaccurately claim that TeenScreen is a bridge to medication and hence the TMAP program. This is entirely false."...TeenScreen: One FamilyÂ's Story
Fierce opposition arises to mental health screening in schools
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Opponents of school-based mental health programs point to parents who say their children have been misdiagnosed with problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and forced to take medication under pressure from school officials. To these parents, the commission suggestion to "improve and expand'' school mental health programs is the first, inexorable step toward mandatory school mental health screening for all students, and mandatory medication for many...Dayton Daily News: Computer: your kid has "disorders"
By selliott | Friday, October 28, 2005, 09:04 AM
Imagine your teenager comes home from school looking depressed. You ask what's wrong. She says, "Oh, it's just my social anxiety disorder." What? Yes, she tells you, she has social anxiety disorder. And also obsessive compulsive disorder. What are you talking about, you ask? Who is telling you this? They told me at school!
And no, it wasn't a psychologist, social worker or even the school nurse that told her. It was: a computer! They call it TeenScreen.Poll tries to gauge mental health
Schools, critics argue value of TeenScreen in preventing suicidePsy-screening and Mandatory Drugs for Everyone? The Genesis of President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
Screening for mental illness is the most controversial topic concerning mental health today. Various government entities, private foundations, organizations, think tanks and universities, all flanked by cunning public relations firms, are hard at work trying to make mental health screening as common as a dental checkup. Despite public outrage over screening, these entities are working feverishly to establish this system. With so much clamor of disagreement for such a program, why, then, do these entities push forward with such ferocity?TeenScreen Calls Physical Illness a Mental Disorder
The symptoms of "mental illness" are real. Many of them can be caused by genuine physical illnesses and treated with medical (non-psychiatric) means. The diagnosis of a "mental disorder" generally means that the patient's symptoms will now be glossed over with dangerous mood and mind-altering drugs. Now TeenScreen is pushing these diagnoses into our schools, targeting children as young as nine years old.TeenScreen - "Under Intense Criticism Nationally"
The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports: "TeenScreen, developed by a Columbia University professor, has come under intense criticism nationally. Opponents say the program, which supports efforts in 460 communities in 42 states, has a record of falsely identifying students as suicidal. They also worry that mass screenings at school could jeopardize teens' medical privacy. Still others believe TeenScreen is at its core a way for some to make money."NJ: Mandatory Mental Screening Women - Pill Pushers: NO Science, Salesmanship
Three reports illustrate the wide and deepening disconnect between medicine under the influence of pharmaceutical industry marketing goals and scientific evidence that contradicts current practice and public health policiesGovernment's Big Lie: The "Crisis" of Babies With Undiagnosed Mental Illness
By Laura Adelmann
To the federal government, many newborns, toddlers and preschoolers are undiagnosed mental cases with dire need of "treatment" (read: drugs). Following the appalling trend of labeling school children with an ever-expanding list of mental disorders and medicating them with the cocaine-class of drugs like Adderall and Ritalin, government is promoting universal mental health screening and treatment - beginning with babies.Bush's Mental Illness Screening Squad On the Move
July 9, 2006. By Evelyn Pringle
The tax dollar funded mental health screening programs popping up in every corner of the nation represent an enormous gift to Big Pharma from the Bush administration. After all, drug companies can't push drugs without a lucrative customer base, so the screening programs are a great solution for that little problem. On April 29, 2002, Bush kicked off the whole mental health screening scheme when he announced the establishment of the New Freedom Commission (NFC) during a speech in in New Mexico where he told the audience that mental health centers and hospitals, homeless shelters, and the justice and school systems, have contact with individuals suffering from mental disorders but that too many Americans are falling through the cracks, and so he created the NFC to ensure "that the cracks are closed."Suicide-risk screening effort blasted
Critics said students who answered "yes" to many of the questions could be unfairly categorized as suicidal and the program could lead students to take unnecessary psychiatric drugs. Fresno physician Larry Scortt called TeenScreen "bogus." One of his criticisms was that the program seemed slanted toward psychiatric treatment, when some emotional troubles could be caused by allergies or poor nutrition.For more information of TeenScreen, here are two (critical) sites: TeenScreen Truth and Psychsearch.netTeen Screen: Creating a Nation of Victims
"If I had my way, I would screen kids for abilities, for dreams and ambitions. Then I would help each one to achieve them. You can hardly stop a man who has a dream and works toward it. There are countless stories in history to make man proud of those who achieved wonders despite a poor upbringing or some feeling of inadequacy or momentary depression."World Experts Demand End to Child Drugging in the US
On October 12, 2007, experts in the field of psychiatry and child development from all over the world arrived in Washington to attend the annual conference of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology. This year's conference focused on one specific goal - to end the mass-prescribing of psychiatric drugs to children.Many of the presentations at the conference focused on the pharmaceutical industry's role in the invention of both TMAP and TeenScreen and the many financial ties between the drug makers, the Bush administration, a group of psychiatrists, and state policy makers largely credited with the creation and promotion of these two programs.
Since the arrival of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors antidepressants (SSRI's) and atypical antipsychotics on the market, countless studies have shown the so-called "wonder drugs" to be ineffective and harmful to children. But for years, drug companies have manipulated data, suppressed negative clinical trials and published only the studies that showed positive results. The truth is that the mass drugging of the entire population in the US with SSRI's has accomplished nothing when it comes to reducing suicidality.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Friday June 17 2005
updated on Tuesday December 21 2010URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2005/06/17/psychiatric_drugs_teenscreen_draws_criticism_legal_challenge.htm
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August 26, 2005 - Sepp Hasslberger
