There has been heated controversy about the over prescribing of antipsychotic medications
for children, particularly poor kids. On March 15, 2013, Science Daily has reported, Rapid Rise in Antipsychotic Treatment of Medicaid-Insured Children. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) has written, "Psychotropic drugs are increasingly being exposed as chemical toxins with the power to kill. Psychiatrists claim their drugs save lives, but according to their own studies, psychotropic drugs can double the risk of suicide." These drugs have also been associated with an increase in murders.
Jan Eastage, President of the CCHR, has written, "The trouble is that their worldwide propaganda on the subject of children and education has thoroughly duped well-meaning parents, teachers and politicians alike, that “normal”—there’s that word again—childhood behavior is no longer normal; that it is a mental illness. And further, that only by continuous, heavy drugging from a very early age, can the “afflicted” child possibly make it through life’s worst." Jim Gottstein, JD and PsychRights have written, "Currently, due to the massive growth in psychiatric drugging of children and youth and the current targeting of them for even more psychiatric drugging, PsychRights has made attacking this problem a priority."
The use of antipsychotic drugs from 1997 to 2006 increased 7- to 12-fold in a Medicaid population of about 500,000 children ages two to 17, according to a new study from the University of Maryland (UM). Lead author Julie Zito, PhD, a professor in the UM School of Pharmacy, has noted that this study is the latest to confirm a rapid rise of antipsychotics prescribed among Medicaid-insured children, which raises questions about America's health care system. It has been pointed out that the use of antipsychotics in children with Medicaid coverage has been about five times that of children in the private sector, which is a disparity which is in need of greater study. These facts lead to a serious consideration of another comment by Jan Eastage, "Contrary to psychiatric opinion, children are not “experimental animals.” They are human beings who have every right to expect protection, care, love and the chance to reach their full potential in life. A chance denied them by psychiatry’s labels and chemical straitjackets."
The Harold Mandel, MD Natural Mental Health Care Reform Association
