The resolution confirms our belief that credible information–NOT information filtered through the prism of Big Pharma–can have impact.
The NAACP resolution comes on the heals of an investigation by a Blue-Ribbon Commission on Foster Care Members that revealed that “California’s deranged foster-care system pays higher rates to Group Homes and foster “parents” when children are drugged.
The NAACP resolution is an informed statement of policy based on facts and a reasonable benefit/ risk assessement:
(1) psychiatry lacks objective diagnostic tools leading to overdiagnosis and mislabeling of children; (2) prescribed psychotropic drugs carry bold and black box warnings about serious risks of harm–including diabetes, liver failure, and sudden death; (3) in some children (and adults) the drugs cause
rahter than curb violence and suicide; (4) the drugs have not been proven beneficial for children’s long-term health or mental health; (5) a bizarre
public policy provides financial incentives that have led to the spiraling overuse of psychotropic drugs in foster care children; (6) a disproportionate share of foster children are children of color.
Recognizing the abuse, they called for action:”it becomes apparent that strict constraints against psychiatry must be called for to protect children.”
AHRP will be liasing with chapters of the NAACP to help stop the prescription drug abuse of children.
Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
veracare@ahrp.org
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE (NAACP)
PRESS RELEASE
October 29, 2006
Contact: Rick Callender, President
(408) 406-5203 Phone
NAACP Calls For Ending Use of Psychiatric Drugs on Foster Youth
Says Foster Care Children should be protected from the financial incentives the Foster Care Industry receives for pushing psychiatric drugs on them.
OAKLAND, CA – Mr. Rick Callender, president of the San Jose Silicon Valley branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) submitted a resolution to the State NAACP Convention calling for an end to the profit-motivated practice of using psychiatric drugs on foster youth.
The resolution was unanimously passed today by the membership.
Several investigations into Foster Care have recently exposed how group-home “parents” request and administer psychotropic drugs on foster youth at far greater rates than any other population.
Since 1999 State & Federal regulations provide a financial incentive for Group Homes and Foster Parents to use psychiatric drugs on these children.
California’s deranged foster-care system pays higher rates when young people are drugged for even the slightest sign of misbehavior or upset.
In July of this year, the Blue-Ribbon Commission on Foster Care Members were reportedly stunned to learn the overuse of psychotropic medications was an important area foster youth pleaded for reform. Mr. Callender said that, “In February 2006 an FDA Advisory panel recommended a black-box warning that certain psychiatric drugs, like Ritalin, Adderall & Concerta, when prescribed to children can cause violence, suicide and sudden death.
This resolution is significant since we already know that children of color make up a disproportionate amount of children within the foster care system.
We must ensure foster youth are given proper medical care and only prescribed medically necessary medications, not just a drug to quiet them down and add dollars to their guardian’s pocket.”
Dr. Lawrence Hooper, a medical doctor and the Health Committee Chairman of the San Jose Branch said, “Ever since the American Psychiatric Association admitted no lab tests exist to diagnose any mental disorder, the entire legitimacy of psychiatry has become questionable. Couple this with the 19 international warnings about how psychiatric drugs have been linked to causing diabetes, liver failure, violence, suicide and sudden death, it becomes apparent that strict constraints against psychiatry must be called for to protect children.”
2006 marks the three year anniversary of when Mr. Callender helped guide the passage of a national NAACP resolution that stated, “Research by medical professionals have indicated considerable controversy and diverse opinion about the validity of childhood behavioral or learning `disorders’ such as, but not limited to ADHD.”
San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP website (www.sanjosenaacp.org).
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is the oldest, largest and strongest civil rights organization in the United States. The principal objective of the NAACP is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of minority group citizens of the United States.
The San Jose/Silicon Valley Branch of the NAACP was founded in 1952.