Safeguarding Children�s Futures

CCHR�s campaigns against abusive psychiatric drugging of children have resulted in numerous protective reforms, a small sample of which follows:

In 1999, CCHR exposed how psychiatric drugs and psychological �death education� programs drove teens Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to kill 12 fellow students, a teacher and themselves at Columbine High School, Colorado. Working with Patricia Johnson, member of the Colorado State Board of Education, a precedent-setting resolution was subsequently passed that called on teachers to use academic rather than drug solutions for behavior, attention and learning difficulties in the classroom. This sparked similar measures in other states and countries.

Between the years 2000 �2003, seven states in the United States�Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas and Virginia�passed laws prohibiting schools from coercing parents or expelling a student if parents refused to put the student on a psychiatric drug. Texas, Arizona and Utah also passed laws that said that a parent could not be charged with medical neglect or abuse for refusing to put a child on a psychiatric drug. A total of 10 laws in 9 states now protect children from enforced psychiatric drugging.

Several laws also prohibit Child Protective Service agencies from removing a child from the custody of parents or criminally charging them because they refuse to submit their child to psychiatric drugs.

As part of CCHR�s public information campaign about the increasing numbers of children being falsely diagnosed with �learning disorders� and drugged in Europe, it provided evidence to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which instigated an inquiry into the issue. In 2002, the Parliamentary Assembly�s report recommended that �stricter control� be �exercised over the diagnosis and treatment of these disorders.� It also recommended that more research be conducted into alternative forms of treatment such as diet.

In the U.K. in 2003, the country�s medicine regulatory body warned doctors not to prescribe certain antidepressants to anyone under 18, citing druginduced suicidal tendencies. Subsequently, Australian, Canadian and European drug approval agencies also warned against use of the drugs for children.

In March 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a public warning that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants could cause hostility and suicidal behavior in children and adults.

In September 2004, the (U.S.) House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight held the first of several hearings focusing on the use of these antidepressants on children and adolescents. It also investigated the FDA�s decision not to disclose study results showing that the drugs can cause children to become acutely suicidal. An FDA advisory panel hearing followed, at which dozens of parents testified about the drugs causing their children to kill themselves. The FDA subsequently ordered (in October 2004), that an unmistakable �black box� warning be prominently placed on the SSRI bottles stating that the drugs can cause suicide.

CCHR continues to raise awareness about this issue as the warning will not alter fact that because of these and other psychiatric drugs, the children are dying, killing others or being turned into addicts. Their future will only be safeguarded when spurious �mental disorders� are no longer diagnosed and dangerous psychotropic drugs are prohibited.

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