Reading, Writing and Ritalin!
Comments from Randal and Donna Watkins:
Having parented an ADHD child, we realize there is a lot of condemnation that
is directed towards the parents of these children. We do not want to participate
in that condemnation, but we do want to pass along information so that you can
make intelligent decisions for your children. These kids are precious and we are
certainly more enlightened for being given the challenge and blessing of raising
them.
Comments from
the media:
Establishment "Educators" Push
Drugs On Disruptive, Fussy Children!
For a variety of reasons, including boredom, schoolchildren
sometimes don't pay attention the way the teacher would prefer. In times past,
the answer has been a suggestion from the teacher to "pay attention,"
or perhaps a slap on the wrist with the ever-present ruler. That was then. This
is now.
Today's answer to fussy children. DRUG THEM!! It is a well-established
fact that often the most fussy children are often the most intelligent. They get
bored in a class geared to the less intelligent. But we can't have some children
singled out as being more intelligent. So, in a Machiavellian move to prevent
excellence from being rewarded and encouraged, the government along with the blessing
of the Medical Industrial-Complex have decided that fussy children have a mental
problem.
A concerned parent in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was visiting
her local bank where she found a stack of pamphlets available for customers as
a "public service." The name of this pamphlet is "Reading, Writing
and RITALIN." Ritalin is a stimulant used to "stabilize" fussy
children. First, "fussy children" isn't scientific enough. No good parent
is going to agree to have his child drugged (in good conscience) because he or
she is "fussy." So the American Psychiatric Association has come up
with a new "spin-drome," that's called "Attention Deficit Disorder"
or ADD, and its associate "disease" Attention Deficit Disorder with
Hyperactivity or ADHA. Parents are told that their children are "sick."
But again, don't worry, there's a solution: You guessed it: drugs!
Here's what the "helpful community service" pamphlet
says: Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) affects approximately 2 million school-age
children. No one knows for certain what causes ADD. Evidence suggests, however,
that a chemical imbalance or deficiencies in certain neurotransmitters may be
the root of the problem. To identify ADD a clinical judgment and an objective
assessment is needed. ADD is a learning disability, and in approximately 25% of
the cases other impairments exist, therefore a psyco-educational assessment is
needed including the evaluation of: reasoning skills, use of language, perception,
attention, memory, visual motor functioning, academic achievement and social skills
to establish a pattern. Again, don't worry. It isn't your child's fault he or
she is fussy. It's a chemical imbalance or a problem with neurotransmitters in
the brains. That's a relief. Get out the DRUGS! The situation has progressed to
the point where a teacher just reports a "fussy" student to a higher
authority, and then the parents are informed that the child should (must) get
tested for ADD.
If you disagree that drugging your fussy child is wrong, even
after a member in good standing of the APA decides it's the right course of action,
prepare for a visit from the child welfare juggernaut. And what is this Ritalin
that "everyone" says is so good for your fussy child? Dennis Clarke
a member of a Human Rights Commission paints a very grim picture of Ritalin. According
to Clarke, in 1989, Ritalin was "The number one street drug in Canada."
He identified it as a "speed-type" drug.
Continuing, Mr. Clarke says, "This drug, when given to
a child who has not yet entered puberty, has what is called a paradoxical effect.
It has a reverse effect to what it would have on you or I as adults. Whenever
you give speed to a child, it has the effect of being a downer. Let's take an
example: Quaalude, a heavy psychiatric downer, which was taken off the market
by Congress in 1984. If that drug was given to a child it would act as a very
potent type of speed. The child would become wildly hyperactive, the pulse would
increase and the child would be in serious trouble. Now, on the other hand, when
you give speed to a child who has not yet entered puberty, for reasons we don't
fully understand, it apparently overwhelms the child's central nervous system,
cutting the motors, making it difficult for the child to move and to communicate.
CIBA-GEIGY warns that this drug can cause epilepsy in children as well as adults.
It can cause epileptic seizures where there is no history of it."
Here's what the APA says about the drug: "Poor administration
or incorrect dosage of Ritalin can lead to some of the following side effects:
'Zombie-like' behavior, growth suppression, behavior or thought disorder, seizures,
headaches, blurred vision, scalp hair loss, Tourette's syndrome-including tics,
barking like a dog and babbling profanities! It can also result in drug dependence
and an inclination for criminality." That what the APA says about the drug
they want to give to your child because he or she is "fussy" in school
or loses things like pencils or homework assignments. Did you ever lose a homework
assignment? Do you think you were "sick" and in need of a mind-numbing
drug to "fix" things" As usual, a major pharmaceutical company
is making profits from the misery and ruined lives of our most innocent citizens;
the children. In Nazi Germany this was called Genocide, in America today it is
called behavior modification. Both are abhorrent and repulses the strong moral
fiber of every decent and hard-working American!
I strongly urge everyone to find the names of those who sit
on the board of directors of the top ten pharmaceutical companies. That will most
certainly be an eye-opener even to those who support the "Pro-Medication
Wing" of the "Medical-Industrial Complex."
If you care about your family, your community and even yourself,
you MUST find out that facts regarding the biggest swindle, sham and scam that
is being perpetrated on the gullible American public today. That is, of course,
the Forced Drugging of otherwise intelligent and normal children all for the sake
of profit. If you have any shred of concern and decency for your fellow humans,
learn the facts before you force powerful dope down your children's or neighbors
throats. Thank you.
Ritalin Causes Cancer!
Government scientists have uncovered a sign that the widely
used children's drug Ritalin may cause cancer in mice. But in their infinite wisdom,
the FDA decided that it's no big deal and this medicine should be prescribed to
children anyway.
"We felt physicians and parents should know this and
have a right to know this (that Ritalin causes cancer)," gushes Dr.
Murray Lumpkin, the Food and Drug Administration's deputy drug director.
Thank you, Mr.
Lumpkin. When will you decide that the public has a "have a right to know"
that Ritalin causes cancer in humans. In twenty years or fifty years, or ever?
Ritalin is widely prescribed to treat
the spindrome called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, a
neurological condition that affects 2.5 million children. It is more common
in boys than girls and sometimes persists to adulthood.Ritalin is the brand name of the brain stimulant methylphenidate.
About 6 millions prescriptions for the generic and brand name versions were
filled in 1993, the latest data available. Mice were fed doses of methylphenidate for two years. Four
of the male mice who got the highest doses developed cancerous liver tumors, called
hepatoblastomas, when statistically no more than one of the extremely rare tumors
should have formed, the study found. The laboratory mice also had somewhat elevated
levels of a non-cancerous liver tumor called hepatocellular adenoma.
The drug manufacturer, Ciba Geigy Corp. mailed letters in
January, 1996 to 100,000 doctors who prescribe methylphenidate. Needless to say,
Ciba Geigy downplayed the cancer risk to protect their bottom line. A scientist
was quoted off the record as stating, "Ciba Geigys history of distributing
hazardous medicine is terrible. They would do anything and have done anything
to protect their profits, including promoting well-known toxic drugs to adults
and children." Again, Established Medicine have shown that ethics takes a
poor back seat to profits."
Ritalin more dangerous than originally
thought! FDA has taken steps to alert the health care community that
an animal study of Ritalin, a stimulant widely prescribed for children with attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), has produced a "weak signal"
that the drug may have the potential to cause cancer.
The agency continues to regard Ritalin as a safe and effective
drug. However, the signal indicates a potential risk that needs to be considered
and further studied because of the increasing and often long-term use of Ritalin
in children. In the last five years, the use of the product has increased approximately
two-to-threefold.
The agency's actions are based on findings in a draft report
on two two-year studies by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) on cancer-causing
potential of Ritalin in mice and rats. The study in rats revealed no cancer-causing
activity. The findings in mice included increased rates of a non-cancerous liver
tumor (hepatocellular adenomas) and, in males only, the occurrence of malignant
liver tumor (hepatoblastomas).
FDA considers the results of the studies a signal of a weak cancer-causing
potential for this drug, based on the following:
-- The positive findings were seen in one species of rodent
(the mouse) and in only one organ, the liver, which is known to be particularly
likely to develop tumors to a wide variety of stimuli.
-- The increased rates were seen primarily in non-malignant
tumors.
- There was no increase in mortality associated with the tumors.
The agency also noted that animal studies do not necessarily
reflect human findings. The kind of liver tumor found in mice is extremely rare
in people, and its occurrence in recent years has not increased despite the increased
use of Ritalin.
The agency has asked the drug's sponsor to include the positive
findings in the labeling for Ritalin, and to alert prescribers to the "weak
signal" by sending them a Dear Doctor letter. FDA also plans to initiate
additional followup studies, including both animal tests and epidemiological studies
in humans using Ritalin. Ritalin is manufactured by Ciba Pharmaceuticals, division
of Ciba-Geigy Corp. in Summit, N.J.
United Nations Warning on Ritalin
UN- The United Nation's International Narcotics Council Board
has warned that US doctors are over-prescribing Ritalin (methylphenidate) to treat
hyperactive children. The US consumes 90 percent of the world's Ritalin supply.
In 1995, US doctors prescribed 350 million doses of the drug to as many as 5 percent
of US school kids (up 50 percent over the previous year). The UN has asked the
US to investigate the pro-Ritalin activities of an unnamed "parents association"
financially backed by Ciba, Ritalin's manufacturer.
Ritalin 'Cocaine Properties' May Lead To Later Drug Abuse
From New Scientist
LONDON (Reuters) - A medicine regularly taken by millions
of hyperactive children has similar properties to cocaine and could encourage
drug abuse in later life, New Scientist magazine said Thursday. Methylphenidate,
better known as Ritalin, is the leading treatment for a neurological condition
known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which prevents children
from concentrating on a task for more than a few seconds.
New Scientist said growing concerns over the long-time effects
of the drug, a stimulant that works by making the neurotransmitter dopamine more
available in the brain, have put it on the agenda for the U.S. National Institutes
of Health conference on ADHD, scheduled for November. A 1995 study by Nora
Volkow, director of nuclear medicine at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in
Upton, New York, found that Ritalin's properties were very similar to cocaine.
Volkow said there was no evidence of a link between Ritalin and cocaine abuse
but added 10 to 30 percent of cocaine addicts take it because they have ADHD.
"When we give them Ritalin, the cocaine problem is resolved,'' she told New
Scientist.
Another study by Susan Schenk, a psychopharmacologist at Texas
A&M University in College Station, and Nadine Lambert, a developmental psychologist
at the University of California at Berkeley, followed the progress of 5,000 children
with ADHD from adolescence into early adulthood. In a paper to be published
in October, Lambert argues that children on Ritalin are more likely to smoke as
adults. Other data presented by Schenk suggested that they are three times more
likely to develop a taste for cocaine.
Other experts were sceptical. Alan Zametkin, a psychiatrist
at the National Institute of Mental Health near Washington D.C., said he believed
stimulants actually reduce the risk of drug addiction. "My theory is that
stimulant use allows kids to be more successful and therefore they develop fewer
antisocial behaviors,'' Zametkin told New Scientist. "So it's less likely
they'll become drug addicts."
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