Posted on 08/08/2002 1:36:17 PM PDT by NYer
MILLBROOK, N.Y. (AP) _ A mother says her son's behavioral problems got worse after school officials gave her an ultimatum: Put the first-grader on Ritalin or he'll be placed in special education classes.
Patricia Weathers has filed notice that she will sue the Millbrook Central School District on behalf of her son, Michael Mozer, for the mental and physical pain she says he suffered for two years starting in 1997. Michael, she said, had trouble focusing and was easily distracted. Officials in the Dutchess County school referred her son to a pediatrician who prescribed Ritalin, Weathers said. By the third grade, Michael was suffering from insomnia, he lost his appetite and was so anxious he chewed his shirt sleeves, collars and pencils, Weathers said.
School officials suggested more medication, she said. Michael began taking another version of Ritalin plus Paxil, an anti-anxiety drug. ``He was having side effects that were making him literally psychotic at one point,'' she said Thursday. Michael's behavior improved on weekends and over breaks, when she would not give him the drugs, she said. She finally stopped medicating her son in December 1999 after he told her voices in his head were telling him to do bad things, she said.
Michael, now 12, was prohibited from entering the school, Weathers said. She now home-schools him and another son. In February 2000, school officials filed a complaint against Weathers with the state Department of Children and Family Services, she said. An investigation cleared her of wrongdoing after independent psychiatric evaluations found her son's sickness was related to the drugs, she said. An employee in Millbrook Superintendent W. Michael Mahoney's office said the district would not comment. The Department of Children and Family Services declined comment citing confidentiality, a spokesman said.
Weathers said she also believes Michael's heart murmur, heard during an examination six months after he was taken off medication, was caused by Ritalin. An exam last year found the murmur was within normal limits. She also claims the drug stunted his growth. Treating Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder with stimulants including Ritalin ``has been associated with small decreases in body weight and height, which do not appear to be clinically significant,'' said Gina Moran, a spokeswoman for Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp, the company that makes Ritalin. Weathers' lawyer, Alan Milstein, declined to discuss particulars of the case but told the New York Post in Thursday's editions he would file the suit in about two weeks. Weathers has started a group called Parents for Label and Drug-Free Education, and said she is in touch with more than 100 parents across the country. Lawsuits similar to Weathers' have been filed against other school districts but were dismissed, Moran said.
A class-action lawsuit accusing Novartis, the American Psychiatric Association and others of encouraging overdiagnosis of children's behavioral disorders to boost sales of Ritalin was dismissed in March.
No parent should have to be subjected to these strong arm tactics.
Wouldn't it be cheaper and more effective to drug the teachers so they could tolerate the kids?
It has to be cheaper and more effective to dope one teacher rather than 7 or 8 kids.
Child raising and child teaching is hard work, and chemicals do not make it any easier. They merely hide your failures...and set in motion a timebomb.
DId this child take all the special education tests to see if he even qualified for special ed? My kid had to take a battery of tests and interviews galore so we could find out that he DID NOT need special education.
However my childs school district would not promote him to 2nd grade without the medication.
There are hearings ect to determine this with parental presence. Parents can hire a lawyer for these meetings and get an advocate.
Back to my child, he starts 2nd grade on medication. We started the medication over the summer so I could be the best judge of any change.
A week or so into school his new teacher calls me. Had no idea he was on medication....yada yada yada...The entire system is a joke.
My son is now going into 5th grade on time.
He has been off medication for about 20 months now. Not one follow up call from the school district. In fact since that call from his teacher in 2nd grade a week into school I really cant recall any follow up by the school district.
Well done! I am always happy to hear about parents who refuse the medicinal abuse the schools try to put our kids through.
Too bad she didnt start home schooling him from the beginning and waited the 2 years while watching her child suffer in such a manner.
The symptoms her son had while on the meds, my son had the same ones, even told me his head didnt know how to tell him to behave.
I have not heard that from him since I took him off the meds.
Treating the side effects of ritalin is another problem ...the insomnia was so bad he was up 20 hours a day, and was totally busy during those 20 hours. Getting him to eat, and watch him gain a mere 2 lbs in 2nd grade was a horror.
Lucky for me we had a great doctor who took calls whenever needed and insisted on finding proper dosage and treating side effects. I highly doubt a pediatrician has such a skill.
I do wonder since my son is still argumentative if its a result of that time. I like to hope not but we did mess with his personal chemistry.
He is 10 now and a good kid. He takes advantage of us when he can but I really see no permenant damage to him coming.
Child raising and child teaching is hard work, and chemicals do not make it any easier. They merely hide your failures...and set in motion a timebomb.
My nomination for post of the year on this subject.
I have no answers but it all seems mighty peculiar to me....
Special education is determined through extensive testing--educational and pyschological--generally the medical is done through the parents themselves. The school is not qualified to give a medical diagnosis.
Special education services are covered under IDEA 77 which was updated in 96, very clearly delineates the responsibilites of both sides. The school is not allowed to act as a doctor, UNLESS the parent has signed away that right to them. This is the ONLY instance in which a school can provide a medical diagnosis. This article does not indicate whether or not she did.
What happens if a school violates this part of IDEA? As a special ed teacher myself, I have been told I can be fired for even mentioning medication. All I can do is describe behaviors and suggest that a parent discuss it with a qualified professional. That is it. Do a search on IDEA and look it up. The responsibilites, penalties, and consequences are all there for anyone to see.
I have read stories about school districts forcing students to take medication--but I have taught in 7 different districts in 3 states over the last 20 years and I have personally never seen it.
I will also add that a very good friend of mine is a psychiatrist and according to her about 45% of her child clients are homeschooled children--on ritalin, adderal, etc. This is not just a "Let's drug them so they will behave in a class of 25 kids" situation. If a kid really has ADHD or ADD, medication is very necessary. ESPECIALLY if they are 16 and driving. No one wants an ADHD kid behind the wheel off his/her meds. However, she (and I) believe it is over diagnosed. I've had kids in my classroom who were FINE with me, but bad at home or in other classes. ADHD doesn't really turn itself on and off like that. But yet the parents will insist that the child has ADHD and therefore qualifies for services.
As far as the long term effects of Ritalin goes--all I can say is to look carefully at whom is making a claim. The Ritalindeath.com site is run by a man trying to sell a book and homeopathic meds. The information from drug companies is obviously from someone trying to sell drugs/medication.
As far as this woman goes, she is making quite a few claims which certainly sound damming. I will have to watch the rulings to see how this comes out.
If the government can tell you what you may not ingest, it can certainly tell you what you must ingest...
And then force you to take it...
The mom should drug the kid and shut the hell up...
After all, government always knows best, and besides, it's for the children...
1- they seem to induce psychosis in some people
2- one you have a history of taking these drugs, your ability to join the military, fly a plane, etc., is "conditional..."
It's been so long I can't recall exactly what was said, but it was typical clintonian weaseling-- you could still join the military, but they'd never let you handle firearms or explosives. I think the pilot's license was similar- you could still get one, but never pass the medical ( as best I recall... ) so you could never fly- but technically, you weren't barred.
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