Ritalin/Public School $$$$

self | 04/22/02 | self

[hsmomx3]

Can anyone provide me with links/articles about the Ritalin racket and how govt. schools receive $$.

I really appreciate your help with this.

[alisasny]

Do a keyword search of the Doctor Peter Breggin. He has been on Hannity many times and I believe he covers this all in his articles and website.

[backhoe]

While it's not about your specific area, there may be some useful links within the links here:

Rx Nation- are our children being medicated to death?

[Still Thinking]

If this is true, I am PISSED!!!

[GovernmentShrinker]

Watch out for groups claiming that there is "no such thing" as ADHD (rather than just that it is widely overdiagnosed) -- this is a new Scientology hook.

[SCalGal]

It's true. Please be LOUDLY pissed.

[Still Thinking]

Do you have any sources of information and documentation that you can cite or provide links for?

[shezza]

Allow me:

Government Programs Encourage Ritalin Use

The Supplemental Security Income program hands out cash to low-income parents whose children are diagnosed as having ADHD -- which the government accepts as a learning disability.

And hundreds of dollars in special-education grant money awarded to schools each year by the Department of Education for every child diagnosed with ADHD.
--------

Testimony of the Honorable Deborah Pryce

"In my position as a Member of Congress, the first time concerns about Ritalin were raised with me was in 1995, when I met with the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy. They were concerned about an increase in the use of Ritalin among school-aged children in Ohio and the pressure placed on school nurses and parents to put children on this drug. They suggested that some perverse financial incentives may be in play, in that schools receive more funding if more students were diagnosed with attention deficit disorder."

Special Ed Law Encourages 'Psychiatric Drugging' of Kids, Say Critics

Etcetera, etcetera...

[SCalGal]

Not offhand, but I'll look tonight.

[ImaGraftedBranch]

Happened to me in Virginia back in 94. I was told my first grade son had trouble paying attention, and the teacher asked for a meeting. I arrived only to be met by her and a school counselor. I have posted this story many times on FR, so you could look it up by my name, but to keep a LONG story short, it went like this:

• They said they wanted to put him on Ritalin, and handed me some brochures on the drug.
• I asked if they had tested his knowledge, because he just might be bored (he is extremely bright)
• They said no, but that they would. In the meantime, I told them I would research Ritalin.
• What I found out about this drug scared the hell out of me. I then found out that this school at one out of four (25%) of all children (elementary) on Ritalin!!!
• I then found out that they received over $400 per child with a learning disability, and it was to the schools advantage to classify kids in this category.
• After they tested him, they found out his skills were at a 4th grade level.
• I told them he was bored, and that no way were they going to drug my son -- then I handed over the evidence I compiled against the drug AND the school.

We moved the hell away from there a few months later.

My son is now homeschooled, and at 13 is in the 9th grade and doing advanced work in every area. IT IS TRUE. They want to classify kids as having learning disabilities to get more government funding. That is the NEA for you! Get your kids the hell out of the Public School system at ANY COST!

[hsmomx3]

Thanks!! You have been a tremendous help!!!!!!

[NYer]

Here's a site worth visiting:

psychopharmacologic medication - What Teachers, Clinicians, and Parents Need to Know

[Motherhood IS a career]

Oh my God! What will the NEA sink to next? And what a convenient and efficient little racket, killing two birds with one stone! The more kids on drugs, the more money they get, and the LESS accountable they have to be for the kids' levels of performance.

I'm glad you caught the scam before your son fell victim too.

This is good information to have. Thanks for repeating your story.

[Poohbah]

I diagnosed an allegedly ADHD kid as suffering from BATS...

Boring-A$$ Teacher Syndrome.

[scholar]

I diagnosed an allegedly ADHD kid as suffering from BATS...

Boring-A$$ Teacher Syndrome.

To that I will add lazy and incompetent teachers.

[SCalGal]

Add to that: Who, exactly, at the school is QUALIFIED to assess the child? Certainly not the teacher who wants the kid to have ritalin. Furthermore, exactly WHO do they have prescribing the stuff? And what about interactions with any other medication they may be taking (stuff the school doesn't know about)?

A child will die, and there'll be a huge lawsuit.

[scholar]

Who, exactly, at the school is QUALIFIED to assess the child?

Absolutely no one!! I have heard horror stories of the school district taking parents to court to force them to put their child on Ritalin--totally based on some teacher's opinion.

While we fight a billion dollar "war on drugs," some early studies seem to indicate that Ritalin use in childhood may well lead to cocaine use later on.

[who knows what evil?]

Schools districts aren't the ONLY ones cashing in...my niece, who was 'diagnosed' with this nonsense, just told me that her FATHER gets a SS(?) check from the feds every month because she is taking adderol. I believe she said he receives $200 per month. Can you imagine POISONING your own child for $200 per month?

[who knows what evil?]

Get your kids the hell out of the Public School system at ANY COST!

The trouble is; many low-income parents are perfectly comfortable drugging their own children as long as there is a nice fat SSI check in it for them.

[who knows what evil?]

THANK YOU for the heads-up re: Dr. Breggin...I'll be busy digging through his website for days to come!