I would like to address the subject of medicating students at the school’s “request” or demand is more like it. This is our family’s experience.

My 12-year-old grandson is ADHD and does have some social and some behavioral issues. We are well aware of his issues and do not try to dismiss them. The school has tried to insist that he be medicated. His mother has refused to medicate him because of the damage from the ADHD drugs to his older brother. This has been explained many, many times to the school personnel.

The side effects of the drugs, Concerta, Strattera, Ritalin and Seroquel vary and the intensity varies from person to person. My older grandson who has taken these various drugs has had severe reactions to them. Some of his reactions are delusions, paranoia, the need for higher doses consistently, mood swings, and when the doses were changed to higher levels, uncontrollable anger. My daughter’s refusal to medicate the younger son stems from the reactions of her older son to the drugs.

When the school was told no, they constantly asked the child if his mother had taken him to the doctor and told him he needs to be medicated. It is very sad that a child comes home and tells his parent that he needs to be medicated. In response to her refusal and the arguments that ensued over the issue, the school has exacted what in my opinion is revenge on the child for his mother’s decision to do what she believes is best for him in the long run.

They put in place a discipline plan that my daughter did not approve of or sign but it didn’t matter. I understand that some of detentions were deserved but I disagree with the nitpicking. Examples and these are just a few: Forgetting a pencil, being early to class, being put in detention for not spitting out gum when in fact the child had and the proof was in the trash can, telling another person that they don’t want him around and he can hear it. The detentions for these silly nitpicking items added up and have created a real problem on the child’s record.

The real topper for me is the fact that they allowed him to sign up for an overnight camping trip and then decided my grandson could not go because of his record and missing assignments. How strange when we checked online to see if there are any missing assignments, they show as completed.

There are many more details to this situation. The bottom line is that they have humiliated, belittled him openly and made this child feel very unwanted. No child reacts well to this type of treatment, no child deserves this. I believe that the school lacks education in some of these disorders and needs some training. If trained properly they would be able to identify that the social, behavioral issues and learning disabilities are a part of the complex disorder and there are better ways to handle the problems.

I would be curious to know how many children are medicated and how many times the school recommends the medication because it makes the staff’s life easier. They have no concept of the long-term effects of the drugs. They are not doctors. I would also be interested in knowing how many others had experiences like this.

I am sure that this will evoke a response again blaming all of the poor behavior on the child, but I think that the professionals should take a deep look at themselves and evaluate why they behave as they have.

Diana Strohm
Muskegon

URL: http://www.mlive.com/opinion/muskegon/index.ssf/2011/06/letters_should_a_school_insist.html

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When Judge Robert Heinrichs renders sentence on August 4, will your portfolio be the one to take the fall?

On that date, it is expected that the judge will make his rulings on sentencing for a teenage boy, arrested after allegedly killing a fellow teenager in what one doctor calls a clear case of “Prozac reaction.”

“There is no reason other than a Prozac reaction,” said Dr. Peter Breggin, a New York state-based psychiatrist and author of the book, Talking Back to Prozac. “(The killing) is a mystery without that.”

The entire affair starts with, of all things, an accidental dent put in the wood floor of the home of the accused by the victim. The accused, who was not home at the time of the accident, later invited the boys back to his house to hang out. When they were hanging out, the accused pulled out a knife and stabbed the boy in the chest.

The accused had been treated for depression and was prescribed Prozac three months prior to the killing. Some studies link the drug Prozac, first patented by Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) with behavioral and emotional changes in users under 18 years of age, including an increased risk of suicide.

After days after he began taking Prozac, the accused attempted suicide with some medication of his grandfather’s. His parents complained to the physician that, rather than help, the drug was making the boy’s condition worse. Rather than switch to a different drug, doctors increased the dosage of Prozac.

“It was a prescription for violence,” Breggin wrote in a report for the defense.

“Within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, I believe that Prozac drove (the accused) into a state of severe agitation with manic-like symptoms including mood swings, confusion, irrationality, extreme irritability, hostility and violence.”

Breggin said the teen should have stopped taking Prozac immediately after he attempted suicide.

“Right then and there should have been the end of the Prozac,” Breggin said. “When you have a drug that is causing mania, you stop taking the drug.”

Now, one boy is dead and another is in the morgue. Will Eli Lilly’s stock take a tumble after the verdict, or will the judge find the boy’s Prozac defense is nonsense? Will other lawsuits emerge? It could be a rough season of discontent for Eli Lilly.

Read more: http://www.benzinga.com/news/global/11/06/1142243/will-prozac-murder-trial-doom-eli-lilly-stock

Related stories:  Did Prozac Cause Teenager to Kill? Psychiatrist Says Yes

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The 17-year-old teen, who was not named in the media, stabbed a 15-year-old friend after the other teen caused damage to a hardwood floor in his friend’s home. The disproportionately angry response, explains Dr. Peter Breggin, is a not-unknown side effect of the antidepressant Prozac. Dr. Breggin stated:

“There is no reason other than a Prozac reaction,” said Dr. Peter Breggin, a New York state-based psychiatrist and author of the book, Talking Back to Prozac. “(The killing) is a mystery without that.”

Nine days after starting therapy with the drug, the teen attempted suicide via an overdose of his grandfather’s pills. His parents reported the incident to doctors, who increased the Prozac dosage for the teen. Dr. Breggin says:

“It was a prescription for violence,” Breggin wrote in a report commissioned by the defence. “Within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, I believe that Prozac drove (the accused) into a state of severe agitation with manic-like symptoms including mood swings, confusion, irrationality, extreme irritability, hostility and violence.”

Prosecutors contend that the killing was a “conscious decision” made by the teenager, and that he should be accountable for the act of violence. In previous studies, Prozac has been linked to “emotional changes” and increased suicide risk in teens.

URL: http://www.inquisitr.com/111789/did-prozac-cause-teenager-to-kill-psychiatrist-says-yes/

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