Fw: Children's Mental Health in the 108th Congress

[Guest guest]

Children's Mental Health in the 108th Congress

EdAction

105 Peavey Road, Suite 116

Chaska, MN 55318

952-361-4931

http://edaction.org

December 13, 2004

Children's Mental Health in the 108th Congress: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

R. Effrem, MD

EdWatch Board of Directors

Both universal mental health screening and the coercive drugging of children

were hot topics in the after-election " lame duck " session of Congress, completed

just before Thanksgiving. These issues were prominent in the consideration of

both the omnibus budget bill and the reauthorization of the special education

law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The following is

our analysis of these issues along with implications for the next session of

Congress.

THE GOOD: The good news on these issues comes from the reauthorization of IDEA.

Several hundred of you contacted Congress via the e-action alert about these

special education issues and we thank you. Education and Workforce Committee

Chairman Boehner and the Committee staff also deserve kudos and thanks for

the following:

a.. The Senate language to fund grants to screen children " at risk for

emotional and behavioral difficulties " was struck from the final bill. Given

all of the other places that mental health screening is rearing its ugly head

and being funded by the federal government, this is truly good news.

b.. The House language stating that academic screening does not constitute a

special education evaluation survived in the final bill. Perhaps now the

epidemic of reading problems that constitute 90% of special education referrals

will be dealt with by teaching systematic phonics before children are mislabeled

with a specific learning disability and unnecessarily placed in the special

education system.

c.. Parents and special education students are protected against coercion by

the schools to take some of the psychiatric medications - those on the

Controlled Substances list, meaning drugs like Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine,

the potent and dangerous stimulant drugs used with frightening frequency to

treat children labeled with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The

language, authored by Congressman Max Burns and passed by the House as an

amendment to IDEA, also survived the conference committee. This is an important

precedent and a very good step in the right direction. Contrary to reports by

other groups, however, this amendment to IDEA does NOT cover any of the

antidepressant medications that have been the subject of FDA and congressional

hearings, and which are now required to carry the most serious black box

warnings due to their tendency to cause suicidal thoughts and actions. The

amendment also does NOT cover the antipsychotic medications used to treat the

growing epidemic of children labeled bipolar. Side effects of those drugs

include obesity, diabetes and neurological problems.

THE BAD - Sadly, despite media coverage by Dr. , G. Gordon Liddy, World Net

Daily, News Max, many talk radio interviews across the country, and thousands of

calls and emails to Congress, grants to fund the New Freedom Commission (NFC)

recommendations, which include universal mental health screening and treatment

with ineffective and dangerous medications, were not stopped. $20 million was

appropriated for state grants to implement the NFC recommendations. Physician

and Congressman 's excellent language that required parental consent for

screening before these programs were funded was not included. Dr. wrote a

letter signed by more than twenty Members urging the parental consent language.

House leadership, including Speaker Hastert, Majority Leader DeLay, and

Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Regula accepted the language. All of

these House Members and those that voted for the original amendment in September

deserve our thanks. Sadly, that language protecting the basic right of parental

consent was dropped in the Senate.

Despite great disappointment at this setback, there were a few silver linings

that this issue has brought. First, the amount funded ($20 million) was less

than half of what was requested ($44 million) by the Senate and the

administration. Thanks to the excellent work of Congressman and physician Ron

and his staff, and his Liberty Committee directed by Kent Snyder and their

excellent alerts, media coverage, many other groups and your dedication and

response to our e-alert, at least 19,000 people contacted Congress to oppose

universal mental health screening, the dangers, and the loss of parental rights

that these programs entail. Thank you.

Finally, please know that your actions are still having an impact. Congressional

staff in the offices of Members who support these freedom-robbing programs are

complaining bitterly about Congressman and the groups that are standing for

liberty to protect their children from labels and drugs, saying that their

national screening programs are put in jeopardy by our work. We must continue

the fight to destroy this program before it takes full root.

In addition to the $20 million for the New Freedom Commission grants, the

omnibus appropriations bill also provides via HHS " $2 million for grants to

local educational systems or non-profit entities to identify and test

evidence-based practices to treat teenagers suffering from mental, emotional or

behavioral disorders, " which will result in more psychiatric drugging. It also

provides $7 million for " grants and cooperative agreements to develop early

intervention and prevention strategies to address the growing problem of youth

suicide " via the Garrett Lee suicide prevention law, which will also

result in more screening and drugging of children and adolescents. (See our

July 26th update)

The Department of Education is spending $5 million on " Mental Health Integration

in Schools " that we are still investigating, as well as $1 million for Senator

Kennedy's disastrous early childhood mental health program called Foundations

for Learning. (See our update.)

THE UGLY - The ugliest parts of this situation are:

a.. The apparent complete capitulation of the administration and the Senate

leadership to the pharmaceutical industry and mental health bureaucracy to the

point that they cannot even support the basic right of parental consent. These

screening programs will subjectively label a child with a vague and dubious

mental diagnoses based on political and/ or religious beliefs that will follow

them for the rest of their lives. They will lead to increased drugging with

ineffective and dangerous medications that can cause suicide, violence,

cognitive toxicity, and diabetes.

b.. That the White House would even consider former Food and Drug

Administration chief Mark McClellan as Secretary of the Department of Health and

Human Services (HHS). HHS will administer the grants to implement the New

Freedom Commission recommendations of universal screening and drugging. The FDA

has completely failed in its mission to protect the public from ineffective and

dangerous medications. The two most recent disasters are the antidepressants in

children and Vioxx in adults. Physicians and the public are completely unable to

make informed decisions about pharmaceuticals, because for years, the FDA has

allowed the industry to cover up evidence of dangerous side effects. Only

positive studies of drug effectiveness have been published. There is no evidence

that the cozy relationship with the pharmaceutical industry will end with

someone from the FDA in charge at HHS, especially since the pharmaceutical

industry is already profiting enormously from the New Freedom treatment

recommendations. McClellan, and anyone else from the FDA, should be sent packing

in disgrace, not considered for a promotion.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? - Protecting children from arbitrary labeling and

drugging while maintaining the right of parental consent and the protection of

parents from coercion to drug their children will require action on three levels

- federal, state, and family.

a.. In Washington DC, EdWatch will work with other groups to educate Congress

and other groups about the dangers of mental health screening. EdAction will

work to pass Dr. 's " Let Parents Raise their Kids Act " which requires

parental consent for these screening programs. EdWatch will also work to educate

Congress and other groups on the limitations of the Child Medication Safety Act

amendment passed in IDEA. EdAction will, at the same time, work to expand the

stand-alone bill. This stand-alone bill contains the same language as the IDEA

amendment to prevent coercion of parents to drug their children with medications

on the controlled substances list. The stand-alone bill passed the US House

425-1, but was stalled in the Senate by Senator Kennedy. The goals for

this legislation in the new Congress are to protect all children in school, not

just those in special education. It would also protect their parents from

coercion by schools to take any psychiatric medication, not just those covered

by the Controlled Substances Act. Finally, we will work to decrease or eliminate

funding for the other mental health screening and labeling programs in federal

law. These screening programs are based on vague and dubious diagnoses and

criteria, they do not prevent suicide, and they can be based on the student's

worldview.

b.. In the states, educating state legislators about the mental health

screening programs will be very important. States must oppose changes in their

laws that would accept the federal New Freedom Commission grants that Illinois

accepted. States would also be wise to consider a law similar to New Jersey's

for personal student surveys. The New Jersey law strengthens the federal

Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) that applies to mental health

screening. Finally, strengthening the state special education laws would be very

helpful, so that parental refusal of a special education evaluation that

includes mental health screening, for instance, cannot be overridden by the

schools.

c.. States may already have some protections for parental consent in mental

health screening in schools, but it is unclear how these protections will apply

to screening programs funded by HHS grants. IDEA requires parental consent

before any evaluation or re-evaluation, including those done for mental health

in special education. According to the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment

(PPRA), active parental consent is required and " no student shall be required,

as part of any applicable program, to submit to a survey, analysis, or

evaluation that reveals information concerning.mental or psychological problems

of the student or the student's family. " PPRA applies to surveys done under

Department of Education funds. What is not clear is whether PPRA will also

apply to the screening New Freedom Commission grants under the Department of

Health and Human Services. That is why we strongly supported and continue to

support Congressman 's attempts to protect parental consent in the

appropriations process as well as in stand-alone legislation, The Let Parents

Raise their Kids Act. While this is being sorted out, we recommend that parents

use this letter drafted by the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights or this one

from the National Education Consortium to put your child's school on notice that

you will not accept any mental health screening.

===============================================

EdAction is entirely user-supported. The continuation of our work is dependent

upon individual contributors. EdAction is a political action committee.

Contributions are not tax deductible. We promote the work of EdWatch. If you

want to ensure that our work continues, contact us here. If you want to

subscribe or unsubscribe to this EdAction e-mail service, mail to:

edaction@.... Put " subscribe " or " unsubscribe " in the SUBJECT of the

message.

[Guest guest]

Children's Mental Health in the 108th Congress

EdAction

105 Peavey Road, Suite 116

Chaska, MN 55318

952-361-4931

http://edaction.org

December 13, 2004

Children's Mental Health in the 108th Congress: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

R. Effrem, MD

EdWatch Board of Directors

Both universal mental health screening and the coercive drugging of children

were hot topics in the after-election " lame duck " session of Congress, completed

just before Thanksgiving. These issues were prominent in the consideration of

both the omnibus budget bill and the reauthorization of the special education

law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The following is

our analysis of these issues along with implications for the next session of

Congress.

THE GOOD: The good news on these issues comes from the reauthorization of IDEA.

Several hundred of you contacted Congress via the e-action alert about these

special education issues and we thank you. Education and Workforce Committee

Chairman Boehner and the Committee staff also deserve kudos and thanks for

the following:

a.. The Senate language to fund grants to screen children " at risk for

emotional and behavioral difficulties " was struck from the final bill. Given

all of the other places that mental health screening is rearing its ugly head

and being funded by the federal government, this is truly good news.

b.. The House language stating that academic screening does not constitute a

special education evaluation survived in the final bill. Perhaps now the

epidemic of reading problems that constitute 90% of special education referrals

will be dealt with by teaching systematic phonics before children are mislabeled

with a specific learning disability and unnecessarily placed in the special

education system.

c.. Parents and special education students are protected against coercion by

the schools to take some of the psychiatric medications - those on the

Controlled Substances list, meaning drugs like Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine,

the potent and dangerous stimulant drugs used with frightening frequency to

treat children labeled with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The

language, authored by Congressman Max Burns and passed by the House as an

amendment to IDEA, also survived the conference committee. This is an important

precedent and a very good step in the right direction. Contrary to reports by

other groups, however, this amendment to IDEA does NOT cover any of the

antidepressant medications that have been the subject of FDA and congressional

hearings, and which are now required to carry the most serious black box

warnings due to their tendency to cause suicidal thoughts and actions. The

amendment also does NOT cover the antipsychotic medications used to treat the

growing epidemic of children labeled bipolar. Side effects of those drugs

include obesity, diabetes and neurological problems.

THE BAD - Sadly, despite media coverage by Dr. , G. Gordon Liddy, World Net

Daily, News Max, many talk radio interviews across the country, and thousands of

calls and emails to Congress, grants to fund the New Freedom Commission (NFC)

recommendations, which include universal mental health screening and treatment

with ineffective and dangerous medications, were not stopped. $20 million was

appropriated for state grants to implement the NFC recommendations. Physician

and Congressman 's excellent language that required parental consent for

screening before these programs were funded was not included. Dr. wrote a

letter signed by more than twenty Members urging the parental consent language.

House leadership, including Speaker Hastert, Majority Leader DeLay, and

Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Regula accepted the language. All of

these House Members and those that voted for the original amendment in September

deserve our thanks. Sadly, that language protecting the basic right of parental

consent was dropped in the Senate.

Despite great disappointment at this setback, there were a few silver linings

that this issue has brought. First, the amount funded ($20 million) was less

than half of what was requested ($44 million) by the Senate and the

administration. Thanks to the excellent work of Congressman and physician Ron

and his staff, and his Liberty Committee directed by Kent Snyder and their

excellent alerts, media coverage, many other groups and your dedication and

response to our e-alert, at least 19,000 people contacted Congress to oppose

universal mental health screening, the dangers, and the loss of parental rights

that these programs entail. Thank you.

Finally, please know that your actions are still having an impact. Congressional

staff in the offices of Members who support these freedom-robbing programs are

complaining bitterly about Congressman and the groups that are standing for

liberty to protect their children from labels and drugs, saying that their

national screening programs are put in jeopardy by our work. We must continue

the fight to destroy this program before it takes full root.

In addition to the $20 million for the New Freedom Commission grants, the

omnibus appropriations bill also provides via HHS " $2 million for grants to

local educational systems or non-profit entities to identify and test

evidence-based practices to treat teenagers suffering from mental, emotional or

behavioral disorders, " which will result in more psychiatric drugging. It also

provides $7 million for " grants and cooperative agreements to develop early

intervention and prevention strategies to address the growing problem of youth

suicide " via the Garrett Lee suicide prevention law, which will also

result in more screening and drugging of children and adolescents. (See our

July 26th update)

The Department of Education is spending $5 million on " Mental Health Integration

in Schools " that we are still investigating, as well as $1 million for Senator

Kennedy's disastrous early childhood mental health program called Foundations

for Learning. (See our update.)

THE UGLY - The ugliest parts of this situation are:

a.. The apparent complete capitulation of the administration and the Senate

leadership to the pharmaceutical industry and mental health bureaucracy to the

point that they cannot even support the basic right of parental consent. These

screening programs will subjectively label a child with a vague and dubious

mental diagnoses based on political and/ or religious beliefs that will follow

them for the rest of their lives. They will lead to increased drugging with

ineffective and dangerous medications that can cause suicide, violence,

cognitive toxicity, and diabetes.

b.. That the White House would even consider former Food and Drug

Administration chief Mark McClellan as Secretary of the Department of Health and

Human Services (HHS). HHS will administer the grants to implement the New

Freedom Commission recommendations of universal screening and drugging. The FDA

has completely failed in its mission to protect the public from ineffective and

dangerous medications. The two most recent disasters are the antidepressants in

children and Vioxx in adults. Physicians and the public are completely unable to

make informed decisions about pharmaceuticals, because for years, the FDA has

allowed the industry to cover up evidence of dangerous side effects. Only

positive studies of drug effectiveness have been published. There is no evidence

that the cozy relationship with the pharmaceutical industry will end with

someone from the FDA in charge at HHS, especially since the pharmaceutical

industry is already profiting enormously from the New Freedom treatment

recommendations. McClellan, and anyone else from the FDA, should be sent packing

in disgrace, not considered for a promotion.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? - Protecting children from arbitrary labeling and

drugging while maintaining the right of parental consent and the protection of

parents from coercion to drug their children will require action on three levels

- federal, state, and family.

a.. In Washington DC, EdWatch will work with other groups to educate Congress

and other groups about the dangers of mental health screening. EdAction will

work to pass Dr. 's " Let Parents Raise their Kids Act " which requires

parental consent for these screening programs. EdWatch will also work to educate

Congress and other groups on the limitations of the Child Medication Safety Act

amendment passed in IDEA. EdAction will, at the same time, work to expand the

stand-alone bill. This stand-alone bill contains the same language as the IDEA

amendment to prevent coercion of parents to drug their children with medications

on the controlled substances list. The stand-alone bill passed the US House

425-1, but was stalled in the Senate by Senator Kennedy. The goals for

this legislation in the new Congress are to protect all children in school, not

just those in special education. It would also protect their parents from

coercion by schools to take any psychiatric medication, not just those covered

by the Controlled Substances Act. Finally, we will work to decrease or eliminate

funding for the other mental health screening and labeling programs in federal

law. These screening programs are based on vague and dubious diagnoses and

criteria, they do not prevent suicide, and they can be based on the student's

worldview.

b.. In the states, educating state legislators about the mental health

screening programs will be very important. States must oppose changes in their

laws that would accept the federal New Freedom Commission grants that Illinois

accepted. States would also be wise to consider a law similar to New Jersey's

for personal student surveys. The New Jersey law strengthens the federal

Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) that applies to mental health

screening. Finally, strengthening the state special education laws would be very

helpful, so that parental refusal of a special education evaluation that

includes mental health screening, for instance, cannot be overridden by the

schools.

c.. States may already have some protections for parental consent in mental

health screening in schools, but it is unclear how these protections will apply

to screening programs funded by HHS grants. IDEA requires parental consent

before any evaluation or re-evaluation, including those done for mental health

in special education. According to the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment

(PPRA), active parental consent is required and " no student shall be required,

as part of any applicable program, to submit to a survey, analysis, or

evaluation that reveals information concerning.mental or psychological problems

of the student or the student's family. " PPRA applies to surveys done under

Department of Education funds. What is not clear is whether PPRA will also

apply to the screening New Freedom Commission grants under the Department of

Health and Human Services. That is why we strongly supported and continue to

support Congressman 's attempts to protect parental consent in the

appropriations process as well as in stand-alone legislation, The Let Parents

Raise their Kids Act. While this is being sorted out, we recommend that parents

use this letter drafted by the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights or this one

from the National Education Consortium to put your child's school on notice that

you will not accept any mental health screening.

===============================================

EdAction is entirely user-supported. The continuation of our work is dependent

upon individual contributors. EdAction is a political action committee.

Contributions are not tax deductible. We promote the work of EdWatch. If you

want to ensure that our work continues, contact us here. If you want to

subscribe or unsubscribe to this EdAction e-mail service, mail to:

edaction@.... Put " subscribe " or " unsubscribe " in the SUBJECT of the

message.

[Guest guest]

Children's Mental Health in the 108th Congress

EdAction

105 Peavey Road, Suite 116

Chaska, MN 55318

952-361-4931

http://edaction.org

December 13, 2004

Children's Mental Health in the 108th Congress: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

R. Effrem, MD

EdWatch Board of Directors

Both universal mental health screening and the coercive drugging of children

were hot topics in the after-election " lame duck " session of Congress, completed

just before Thanksgiving. These issues were prominent in the consideration of

both the omnibus budget bill and the reauthorization of the special education

law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The following is

our analysis of these issues along with implications for the next session of

Congress.

THE GOOD: The good news on these issues comes from the reauthorization of IDEA.

Several hundred of you contacted Congress via the e-action alert about these

special education issues and we thank you. Education and Workforce Committee

Chairman Boehner and the Committee staff also deserve kudos and thanks for

the following:

a.. The Senate language to fund grants to screen children " at risk for

emotional and behavioral difficulties " was struck from the final bill. Given

all of the other places that mental health screening is rearing its ugly head

and being funded by the federal government, this is truly good news.

b.. The House language stating that academic screening does not constitute a

special education evaluation survived in the final bill. Perhaps now the

epidemic of reading problems that constitute 90% of special education referrals

will be dealt with by teaching systematic phonics before children are mislabeled

with a specific learning disability and unnecessarily placed in the special

education system.

c.. Parents and special education students are protected against coercion by

the schools to take some of the psychiatric medications - those on the

Controlled Substances list, meaning drugs like Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine,

the potent and dangerous stimulant drugs used with frightening frequency to

treat children labeled with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The

language, authored by Congressman Max Burns and passed by the House as an

amendment to IDEA, also survived the conference committee. This is an important

precedent and a very good step in the right direction. Contrary to reports by

other groups, however, this amendment to IDEA does NOT cover any of the

antidepressant medications that have been the subject of FDA and congressional

hearings, and which are now required to carry the most serious black box

warnings due to their tendency to cause suicidal thoughts and actions. The

amendment also does NOT cover the antipsychotic medications used to treat the

growing epidemic of children labeled bipolar. Side effects of those drugs

include obesity, diabetes and neurological problems.

THE BAD - Sadly, despite media coverage by Dr. , G. Gordon Liddy, World Net

Daily, News Max, many talk radio interviews across the country, and thousands of

calls and emails to Congress, grants to fund the New Freedom Commission (NFC)

recommendations, which include universal mental health screening and treatment

with ineffective and dangerous medications, were not stopped. $20 million was

appropriated for state grants to implement the NFC recommendations. Physician

and Congressman 's excellent language that required parental consent for

screening before these programs were funded was not included. Dr. wrote a

letter signed by more than twenty Members urging the parental consent language.

House leadership, including Speaker Hastert, Majority Leader DeLay, and

Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Regula accepted the language. All of

these House Members and those that voted for the original amendment in September

deserve our thanks. Sadly, that language protecting the basic right of parental

consent was dropped in the Senate.

Despite great disappointment at this setback, there were a few silver linings

that this issue has brought. First, the amount funded ($20 million) was less

than half of what was requested ($44 million) by the Senate and the

administration. Thanks to the excellent work of Congressman and physician Ron

and his staff, and his Liberty Committee directed by Kent Snyder and their

excellent alerts, media coverage, many other groups and your dedication and

response to our e-alert, at least 19,000 people contacted Congress to oppose

universal mental health screening, the dangers, and the loss of parental rights

that these programs entail. Thank you.

Finally, please know that your actions are still having an impact. Congressional

staff in the offices of Members who support these freedom-robbing programs are

complaining bitterly about Congressman and the groups that are standing for

liberty to protect their children from labels and drugs, saying that their

national screening programs are put in jeopardy by our work. We must continue

the fight to destroy this program before it takes full root.

In addition to the $20 million for the New Freedom Commission grants, the

omnibus appropriations bill also provides via HHS " $2 million for grants to

local educational systems or non-profit entities to identify and test

evidence-based practices to treat teenagers suffering from mental, emotional or

behavioral disorders, " which will result in more psychiatric drugging. It also

provides $7 million for " grants and cooperative agreements to develop early

intervention and prevention strategies to address the growing problem of youth

suicide " via the Garrett Lee suicide prevention law, which will also

result in more screening and drugging of children and adolescents. (See our

July 26th update)

The Department of Education is spending $5 million on " Mental Health Integration

in Schools " that we are still investigating, as well as $1 million for Senator

Kennedy's disastrous early childhood mental health program called Foundations

for Learning. (See our update.)

THE UGLY - The ugliest parts of this situation are:

a.. The apparent complete capitulation of the administration and the Senate

leadership to the pharmaceutical industry and mental health bureaucracy to the

point that they cannot even support the basic right of parental consent. These

screening programs will subjectively label a child with a vague and dubious

mental diagnoses based on political and/ or religious beliefs that will follow

them for the rest of their lives. They will lead to increased drugging with

ineffective and dangerous medications that can cause suicide, violence,

cognitive toxicity, and diabetes.

b.. That the White House would even consider former Food and Drug

Administration chief Mark McClellan as Secretary of the Department of Health and

Human Services (HHS). HHS will administer the grants to implement the New

Freedom Commission recommendations of universal screening and drugging. The FDA

has completely failed in its mission to protect the public from ineffective and

dangerous medications. The two most recent disasters are the antidepressants in

children and Vioxx in adults. Physicians and the public are completely unable to

make informed decisions about pharmaceuticals, because for years, the FDA has

allowed the industry to cover up evidence of dangerous side effects. Only

positive studies of drug effectiveness have been published. There is no evidence

that the cozy relationship with the pharmaceutical industry will end with

someone from the FDA in charge at HHS, especially since the pharmaceutical

industry is already profiting enormously from the New Freedom treatment

recommendations. McClellan, and anyone else from the FDA, should be sent packing

in disgrace, not considered for a promotion.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? - Protecting children from arbitrary labeling and

drugging while maintaining the right of parental consent and the protection of

parents from coercion to drug their children will require action on three levels

- federal, state, and family.

a.. In Washington DC, EdWatch will work with other groups to educate Congress

and other groups about the dangers of mental health screening. EdAction will

work to pass Dr. 's " Let Parents Raise their Kids Act " which requires

parental consent for these screening programs. EdWatch will also work to educate

Congress and other groups on the limitations of the Child Medication Safety Act

amendment passed in IDEA. EdAction will, at the same time, work to expand the

stand-alone bill. This stand-alone bill contains the same language as the IDEA

amendment to prevent coercion of parents to drug their children with medications

on the controlled substances list. The stand-alone bill passed the US House

425-1, but was stalled in the Senate by Senator Kennedy. The goals for

this legislation in the new Congress are to protect all children in school, not

just those in special education. It would also protect their parents from

coercion by schools to take any psychiatric medication, not just those covered

by the Controlled Substances Act. Finally, we will work to decrease or eliminate

funding for the other mental health screening and labeling programs in federal

law. These screening programs are based on vague and dubious diagnoses and

criteria, they do not prevent suicide, and they can be based on the student's

worldview.

b.. In the states, educating state legislators about the mental health

screening programs will be very important. States must oppose changes in their

laws that would accept the federal New Freedom Commission grants that Illinois

accepted. States would also be wise to consider a law similar to New Jersey's

for personal student surveys. The New Jersey law strengthens the federal

Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) that applies to mental health

screening. Finally, strengthening the state special education laws would be very

helpful, so that parental refusal of a special education evaluation that

includes mental health screening, for instance, cannot be overridden by the

schools.

c.. States may already have some protections for parental consent in mental

health screening in schools, but it is unclear how these protections will apply

to screening programs funded by HHS grants. IDEA requires parental consent

before any evaluation or re-evaluation, including those done for mental health

in special education. According to the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment

(PPRA), active parental consent is required and " no student shall be required,

as part of any applicable program, to submit to a survey, analysis, or

evaluation that reveals information concerning.mental or psychological problems

of the student or the student's family. " PPRA applies to surveys done under

Department of Education funds. What is not clear is whether PPRA will also

apply to the screening New Freedom Commission grants under the Department of

Health and Human Services. That is why we strongly supported and continue to

support Congressman 's attempts to protect parental consent in the

appropriations process as well as in stand-alone legislation, The Let Parents

Raise their Kids Act. While this is being sorted out, we recommend that parents

use this letter drafted by the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights or this one

from the National Education Consortium to put your child's school on notice that

you will not accept any mental health screening.

===============================================

EdAction is entirely user-supported. The continuation of our work is dependent

upon individual contributors. EdAction is a political action committee.

Contributions are not tax deductible. We promote the work of EdWatch. If you

want to ensure that our work continues, contact us here. If you want to

subscribe or unsubscribe to this EdAction e-mail service, mail to:

edaction@.... Put " subscribe " or " unsubscribe " in the SUBJECT of the

message.

[Guest guest]

Children's Mental Health in the 108th Congress

EdAction

105 Peavey Road, Suite 116

Chaska, MN 55318

952-361-4931

http://edaction.org

December 13, 2004

Children's Mental Health in the 108th Congress: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

R. Effrem, MD

EdWatch Board of Directors

Both universal mental health screening and the coercive drugging of children

were hot topics in the after-election " lame duck " session of Congress, completed

just before Thanksgiving. These issues were prominent in the consideration of

both the omnibus budget bill and the reauthorization of the special education

law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The following is

our analysis of these issues along with implications for the next session of

Congress.

THE GOOD: The good news on these issues comes from the reauthorization of IDEA.

Several hundred of you contacted Congress via the e-action alert about these

special education issues and we thank you. Education and Workforce Committee

Chairman Boehner and the Committee staff also deserve kudos and thanks for

the following:

a.. The Senate language to fund grants to screen children " at risk for

emotional and behavioral difficulties " was struck from the final bill. Given

all of the other places that mental health screening is rearing its ugly head

and being funded by the federal government, this is truly good news.

b.. The House language stating that academic screening does not constitute a

special education evaluation survived in the final bill. Perhaps now the

epidemic of reading problems that constitute 90% of special education referrals

will be dealt with by teaching systematic phonics before children are mislabeled

with a specific learning disability and unnecessarily placed in the special

education system.

c.. Parents and special education students are protected against coercion by

the schools to take some of the psychiatric medications - those on the

Controlled Substances list, meaning drugs like Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine,

the potent and dangerous stimulant drugs used with frightening frequency to

treat children labeled with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The

language, authored by Congressman Max Burns and passed by the House as an

amendment to IDEA, also survived the conference committee. This is an important

precedent and a very good step in the right direction. Contrary to reports by

other groups, however, this amendment to IDEA does NOT cover any of the

antidepressant medications that have been the subject of FDA and congressional

hearings, and which are now required to carry the most serious black box

warnings due to their tendency to cause suicidal thoughts and actions. The

amendment also does NOT cover the antipsychotic medications used to treat the

growing epidemic of children labeled bipolar. Side effects of those drugs

include obesity, diabetes and neurological problems.

THE BAD - Sadly, despite media coverage by Dr. , G. Gordon Liddy, World Net

Daily, News Max, many talk radio interviews across the country, and thousands of

calls and emails to Congress, grants to fund the New Freedom Commission (NFC)

recommendations, which include universal mental health screening and treatment

with ineffective and dangerous medications, were not stopped. $20 million was

appropriated for state grants to implement the NFC recommendations. Physician

and Congressman 's excellent language that required parental consent for

screening before these programs were funded was not included. Dr. wrote a

letter signed by more than twenty Members urging the parental consent language.

House leadership, including Speaker Hastert, Majority Leader DeLay, and

Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Regula accepted the language. All of

these House Members and those that voted for the original amendment in September

deserve our thanks. Sadly, that language protecting the basic right of parental

consent was dropped in the Senate.

Despite great disappointment at this setback, there were a few silver linings

that this issue has brought. First, the amount funded ($20 million) was less

than half of what was requested ($44 million) by the Senate and the

administration. Thanks to the excellent work of Congressman and physician Ron

and his staff, and his Liberty Committee directed by Kent Snyder and their

excellent alerts, media coverage, many other groups and your dedication and

response to our e-alert, at least 19,000 people contacted Congress to oppose

universal mental health screening, the dangers, and the loss of parental rights

that these programs entail. Thank you.

Finally, please know that your actions are still having an impact. Congressional

staff in the offices of Members who support these freedom-robbing programs are

complaining bitterly about Congressman and the groups that are standing for

liberty to protect their children from labels and drugs, saying that their

national screening programs are put in jeopardy by our work. We must continue

the fight to destroy this program before it takes full root.

In addition to the $20 million for the New Freedom Commission grants, the

omnibus appropriations bill also provides via HHS " $2 million for grants to

local educational systems or non-profit entities to identify and test

evidence-based practices to treat teenagers suffering from mental, emotional or

behavioral disorders, " which will result in more psychiatric drugging. It also

provides $7 million for " grants and cooperative agreements to develop early

intervention and prevention strategies to address the growing problem of youth

suicide " via the Garrett Lee suicide prevention law, which will also

result in more screening and drugging of children and adolescents. (See our

July 26th update)

The Department of Education is spending $5 million on " Mental Health Integration

in Schools " that we are still investigating, as well as $1 million for Senator

Kennedy's disastrous early childhood mental health program called Foundations

for Learning. (See our update.)

THE UGLY - The ugliest parts of this situation are:

a.. The apparent complete capitulation of the administration and the Senate

leadership to the pharmaceutical industry and mental health bureaucracy to the

point that they cannot even support the basic right of parental consent. These

screening programs will subjectively label a child with a vague and dubious

mental diagnoses based on political and/ or religious beliefs that will follow

them for the rest of their lives. They will lead to increased drugging with

ineffective and dangerous medications that can cause suicide, violence,

cognitive toxicity, and diabetes.

b.. That the White House would even consider former Food and Drug

Administration chief Mark McClellan as Secretary of the Department of Health and

Human Services (HHS). HHS will administer the grants to implement the New

Freedom Commission recommendations of universal screening and drugging. The FDA

has completely failed in its mission to protect the public from ineffective and

dangerous medications. The two most recent disasters are the antidepressants in

children and Vioxx in adults. Physicians and the public are completely unable to

make informed decisions about pharmaceuticals, because for years, the FDA has

allowed the industry to cover up evidence of dangerous side effects. Only

positive studies of drug effectiveness have been published. There is no evidence

that the cozy relationship with the pharmaceutical industry will end with

someone from the FDA in charge at HHS, especially since the pharmaceutical

industry is already profiting enormously from the New Freedom treatment

recommendations. McClellan, and anyone else from the FDA, should be sent packing

in disgrace, not considered for a promotion.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? - Protecting children from arbitrary labeling and

drugging while maintaining the right of parental consent and the protection of

parents from coercion to drug their children will require action on three levels

- federal, state, and family.

a.. In Washington DC, EdWatch will work with other groups to educate Congress

and other groups about the dangers of mental health screening. EdAction will

work to pass Dr. 's " Let Parents Raise their Kids Act " which requires

parental consent for these screening programs. EdWatch will also work to educate

Congress and other groups on the limitations of the Child Medication Safety Act

amendment passed in IDEA. EdAction will, at the same time, work to expand the

stand-alone bill. This stand-alone bill contains the same language as the IDEA

amendment to prevent coercion of parents to drug their children with medications

on the controlled substances list. The stand-alone bill passed the US House

425-1, but was stalled in the Senate by Senator Kennedy. The goals for

this legislation in the new Congress are to protect all children in school, not

just those in special education. It would also protect their parents from

coercion by schools to take any psychiatric medication, not just those covered

by the Controlled Substances Act. Finally, we will work to decrease or eliminate

funding for the other mental health screening and labeling programs in federal

law. These screening programs are based on vague and dubious diagnoses and

criteria, they do not prevent suicide, and they can be based on the student's

worldview.

b.. In the states, educating state legislators about the mental health

screening programs will be very important. States must oppose changes in their

laws that would accept the federal New Freedom Commission grants that Illinois

accepted. States would also be wise to consider a law similar to New Jersey's

for personal student surveys. The New Jersey law strengthens the federal

Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) that applies to mental health

screening. Finally, strengthening the state special education laws would be very

helpful, so that parental refusal of a special education evaluation that

includes mental health screening, for instance, cannot be overridden by the

schools.

c.. States may already have some protections for parental consent in mental

health screening in schools, but it is unclear how these protections will apply

to screening programs funded by HHS grants. IDEA requires parental consent

before any evaluation or re-evaluation, including those done for mental health

in special education. According to the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment

(PPRA), active parental consent is required and " no student shall be required,

as part of any applicable program, to submit to a survey, analysis, or

evaluation that reveals information concerning.mental or psychological problems

of the student or the student's family. " PPRA applies to surveys done under

Department of Education funds. What is not clear is whether PPRA will also

apply to the screening New Freedom Commission grants under the Department of

Health and Human Services. That is why we strongly supported and continue to

support Congressman 's attempts to protect parental consent in the

appropriations process as well as in stand-alone legislation, The Let Parents

Raise their Kids Act. While this is being sorted out, we recommend that parents

use this letter drafted by the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights or this one

from the National Education Consortium to put your child's school on notice that

you will not accept any mental health screening.

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