Drugging of Children Hits Spotlight, Canadian Connection
filed in Antipsychotics, U.S. and Global News, Youth on Nov.19, 2008
“Powerful antipsychotic medicines are being used far too cavalierly in children, and federal drug regulators must do more to warn doctors of their substantial risks, a panel of federal drug experts said Tuesday,” begins an article in the New York Times today. CMM would like to hope this marks the turning of the tide of this particularly nefarious use of forced drugging, arguably more often intended to control child behaviour for the benefit of parents, foster parents and teachers, than for the benefit of the children themselves. It will be interesting to monitor the developments of the Anti Child Drugging Movement in Canada, particularly its attempt to get a class action lawsuit going against Youthdale, the Ontario provider of mental health services and residential services for “troubled teens”. Sometimes New York Times investigative journalist Maia Szalavitz has provided a powerful peek into this horrific industry in her book “Help at any Cost — How the troubled teen industry cons parents and hurts kids“.
November 20th, 2008 on 10:05 am
This is nothing new, sad to say. At age six I was prescribed drugs by a pediatrician after being diagnosed with ‘childhood schizophrenia’ (this was in 1964).
In the winter of 1975 I spent a couple of months in one of Youthdale’s group homes in downtown Toronto. This short stay was enough to seriously screw up my life. During this time I was twice dragged forcibly to the institution now known as CAMH, once in the middle of the night. I was sixteen years old at the time.
A prescription for Mellaril written by a doc working for Youthdale during this time caused me to gain more than twenty pounds during these two months.
Before they opened their own psychiatric lockup on Victoria Street (just south of the Ryerson University campus) it seemed that it was Youthdale’s practice to use the Adolescent Unit at Queen Street Mental Health Centre (one of the four institutions amalgamated into the boondoggle now known as the CAMH) as the means of imprisoning its more ‘difficult’ residents when they deemed it necessary.
I hope Youthdale gets their ass kicked. I will be watching this one with great interest.