Free Articles on Freedom Plaza: Drugs
by Kieron McFadden
After 7-year-old foster child's suicide, officials probe drugging of foster children
FLORIDA: 7-year-old Gabriel Myers hanged himself on April 16, in the bathroom of his Margate, Florida foster home.
Dismayed by the tragic suicide of a small child in foster care, Florida's top child-welfare administrator, took the rare step of ordering an investigation of the circumstances surrounding Gabriel's death. This will include a study of the case files of every foster child in Florida to see how many are on mind-altering drugs.
Director of Children and Families (DCF) Secretary George Sheldon explained: "It is difficult for any of us to comprehend how a child so young could have deliberately and consciously made the decision to end his life."
Mr. Sheldon also said, ".... in order to help prevent this type of tragedy from happening again, it is critical we review all available information to determine the factors that led to Gabriel's death."
It has emerged that four weeks before his suicide, Gabriel was prescribed Symbyax, which is a combination of the generic forms of the anti-depressant Prozac and the anti-psychosis drug Zyprexa. This was in addition to the Vyvanse he already had been taking to treat so-called "attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder" a psychiatric "illness" already the subject of much controversy, with its scientific validity called into serious doubt.
Mr. Sheldon has asked has investigators to uncover how many of the more than 20,000 foster children in Florida are taking psychotropic drugs. A DCF study as long ago as 2005 made the shocking discovery that one in every four foster children was on a mood-altering drug even then.
Given that the drugging of children has, in the intervening years, been strongly advocated by the psychiatric community, it raises concerns as to how high that already high percentage has climbed and whether Florida has a child-drugging epidemic on its hands.
A study of case histories shows that the drugging of someone in childhood can set in train lifelong complications, including problems with drug addiction and iatrogenic personality disorders so the consequences for Florida of the extensive drugging of its young have yet to play out.
The problem with psychotropic medications is that they are powerful mood-altering chemicals that cause disruption of the normal function of brain and nervous system and often damage them permanently. This is a matter of record and indeed their manufacturers are obliged by law to list their side-effects, which include aggression, disorientation and suicidal thoughts.
Human rights groups such as the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) have campaigned for years to warn the public of the dangers of these drugs. They are harmful enough to adults so one can imagine the damage they could do to a small child.
Indeed, child advocates in Florida have long criticized what they have described as the rampant use of psychotropic drugs on foster children.
"One of our concerns is that they use the medications as 'chemical restraint' and not as a medication to treat a disease or condition," said Andrea Moore, executive director of Florida's Children First.
In other words, the drugs are used on children in much the same way they are often used on adults in the mental health industry: as a way of rendering the person tractable, with little or no pretence at treating them for an illness..
Child welfare records were released last week that show Gabriel was given Symbyax even though there apparently was no court order permitting his drugging. Under a Florida law designed to protect children from this form of abuse, parental consent or a judge's order is needed before a foster child can be administered a psychotropic drug.
"We need to develop a refined protocol for the use of these types of drugs in our children," Mr Sheldon said. "I want to ensure that prescription drugs of this nature are used appropriately, always under medical and judicial supervision and with consultation with DCF staff."
To investigate Gabriel's death, Sheldon appointed a five-member team, led by Mr.James Sewell, a former assistant commissioner with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Gabriel came into Florida state care in June when his mother was found nearly unconscious in a car with the boy in a parking lot. Inside the car were several prescription drugs, including the psychiatric drug Xanax.
