Re: Unconfirmed reoprt - Child screening passes in Congress

[Guest guest]

Bill Frist is a doctor and from a doctor family that is all wrapped up in

the

drug industry. Frist will never side for the people or peoples rights over

the

drug industry.

IThis was sent to me and I am passing it on with a caveat. I am unable to

confirm that this is true - a look at did not show this on the

Congressional record yet.

As Moll\y Ivins wrote, Save room for rotten pie with this administration; it

is

going to get much worse.

-----

http://www.thelibertycommittee.com/

November 22, 2004

Many members of the U.S. House, including House

leadership, supported

Congressman Ron 's language prohibiting funding of

mandatory or universal mental-health screening of children. In

addition, Senators Inhofe, Sam Brownback and Rick Santorum

supported Dr.'s language.However, we believe the drug companies and

the psychiatric establishment convinced Senators Arlen Specter and Bill

Frist

to block it. We are extremely disappointed that the conference committee

ultimately rejected Dr. 's language and that it was not added to the

omnibus spending bill.

We won't give up on this issue! Congressman did

numerous radio interviews, including ones with Reagan and

Gordon Liddy. Our activistssent 19,788 messages to Congress. Dr.

Schlessinger talked about it on her show and posted information on her Web

site.Numerous news articles and commentaries were published about the

issue. Many of you helped spread the word to family and friends. We will

take this momentum and work even harder when the new Congress meets in

January.

Thank you for your efforts! Again, we won't give up.

Here is a past post on the subject from November 18,

2004

NewStandard Home Iraq in Crisis Civil Liberties &

Security U.S. Business & Economy News Article

Bill to Screen, Medicate Kids May Hit Senate This

Weekby Getzan (bio)

Legislation to test children for " mental health

disorders " and then provide them commercial drugs

-- which would be highly controversial if people

knew about it -- could reach Congress during this

month's lame duck session.

Nov 15 - Funding for a controversial Bush

administration plan to submit the nation's school

children to mental health testing and drug treatment

may end up reaching the Senate floor this week, as

GOP congressional leaders look to clear the

legislative slate in order to set the table for

W. Bush's second term.

The plan, called the New Freedom Initiative

(NFI), is the keystone of a package of initiatives by

the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental

Health, a group of doctors and mental health care

professionals established by the Bush

Administration in 2002.

As previously reported by The NewStandard, the

Initiative's critics, ranging from grassroots

mental health advocacy organizations to government

whistleblowers, have said the NFI's proposals do

little else but establish state-mandated markets for

the psychiatric pharmaceutical industry.

In 2003, the Commission published a report

recommending states encourage more mental health

testing and treatment for Americans and suggested

public schools were an ideal place to access students

and begin to root out undiagnosed and " severely

disruptive " mental health issues. It pointed to a

program begun during Bush's governorship

of Texas called the Texas Medication Algorithm

Project (TMAP), which set a standard operating

procedure within a flow chart allowing psychiatrists

to identify and medicate possible conditions.

In a report posted on the website of the Law

Project for Psychiatric Rights quotes a whistleblower

who says doctors staffing the Texas program had

strong links to pharmaceutical companies, and

those doctors often prescribed expensive, brand-name

drugs over cheaper alternatives. The source of

that claim is , a former investigator

for the Office of the Inspector General who says he

was fired for speaking out against a TMAP-style

program in Pennsylvania.

The NFI plan, said , does not " have the

Orwellian goal of drugging the populace for a

political purpose. " Instead, " it's the Orwellian goal

of

drugging the populace for an economic purpose. "

Another critic of the initiative, holistic mental

health advocate Oaks, says the end result

of the New Freedom Initiative's recommendations

will be nothing short of " hundreds of thousands of

more kids being put on psychiatric drugs. " Oaks

is director of the mental health advocacy group

Mind Freedom.

In Oaks' opinion, the issues of child mental

health are not only more complicated than just

testing for disorders and putting kids on drugs, but

are also colored by powerful societal pressures and

millions of dollars in drug revenues. Oaks has

called the president's plan " No child left

undrugged. "

Nevertheless, the plan does have some powerful

supporters. The American Psychiatric Association,

which itself receives some of its funding from

drug companies, has voiced approval for the plan,

and a number of other states are already

researching and implementing their own versions of

TMAP.

During a " lame duck " session of Congress, Senate

leadership is trying to push through unfinished

appropriations measures for fiscal year 2005. The

Bush administration had requested about $44

million for states to implement mental health

screening. The House version of the bill, which has

already passed, includes $20 million in support of the

New Freedom Commission's plan. It is unclear how

much the Senate will appropriate.

On the coattails of the bill's passage out of the

House, Representative Ron (R-Texas) is now

championing the " Let Parents Raise Their Kids

Act, " which would prevent federal dollars to fund any

universal system of mental health screening that

does not hinge on parental-guardian consent.

Previously, had failed to insert an amendment to

the appropriations bill blocking federal funding

of the NFI recommendations.

2004 The NewStandard

[Guest guest]

Niles,

I heard the same thing from an interview with a spokesperson from tne

American Association of Physicians and Surgeons yesterday on the

show. You no doubt have already seen the info from them but if not it's at

http://www.aapsonline.org I think Molly Ivans is right ... the secrecy of

this administration is just the beginning ... before this storm is over it's

likely to get much worse and we would all do weel to be constantly vigilant.

[Guest guest]

Niles,

I heard the same thing from an interview with a spokesperson from tne

American Association of Physicians and Surgeons yesterday on the

show. You no doubt have already seen the info from them but if not it's at

http://www.aapsonline.org I think Molly Ivans is right ... the secrecy of

this administration is just the beginning ... before this storm is over it's

likely to get much worse and we would all do weel to be constantly vigilant.

[Guest guest]

start contacting state rep & senator in opposition

Re: Unconfirmed reoprt - Child screening passes in

Congress

>

>

> Niles,

> I heard the same thing from an interview with a spokesperson from tne

> American Association of Physicians and Surgeons yesterday on the

> show. You no doubt have already seen the info from them but if not it's

at

> http://www.aapsonline.org I think Molly Ivans is right ... the secrecy of

> this administration is just the beginning ... before this storm is over

it's

> likely to get much worse and we would all do weel to be constantly

vigilant.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>