United Nations Warns Against Psychiatric Labeling And Drugging

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United Nations Warns Against Psychiatric Labeling And Drugging

Health Canada and FDA order warnings on ADHD-prescribed drugs

 

by Brian Beaumont

 

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- (OfficialWire) -- 10/08/05 -- In a landmark report,

the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, the world's

premier children's rights body, has issued a strong warning against

falsely labeling youth with the psychiatric diagnosis of " Attention

Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) " and administering powerful

ADHD-drugs.

 

In its Concluding Observations on reports by Australia, Finland and

Denmark regarding their compliance to the U.N. Convention on the

Rights of the Child, the Committee expressed concern that " [ADHD] and

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) are being misdiagnosed and therefore

psycho-stimulant drugs are being over prescribed, despite growing

evidence of the harmful effects of these drugs. "

 

Jan Eastgate, international president of the psychiatric watchdog

group, Citizens Commission on Human Rights, applauded the report. " The

misdiagnosing and psychiatric drugging of children are violations of

human rights and we commend the Committee for taking action, " she said.

 

The Committee urges that " other forms of management and treatment " be

used to address difficult behavior in children.

 

With an estimated 17 million children prescribed mind-altering drugs,

the United Nations is the latest in a series of government bodies to

alert the public to the damage they can do to young people. Prompted

by reports of harm -- including deaths -- attributed to the drugs,

agencies have been reviewing clinical reports that confirm the side

effects to include hallucinations, hostility, agitation, aggression,

suicidal tendencies and violent behavior.

 

On September 29, Health Canada asked all the makers of drugs used for

ADHD to submit data from all clinical trials and post-marketing

reports by the end of 2005. The data will be examined following it's

submission in the new year. The drugs that will be reviewed are

Concerta, Adderall XR, Dexadrine, Ritalin and Attenade; drugs which

are given to children for ADHD.

 

Also on September 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered

that " black box " warnings be placed on a commonly prescribed ADHD

drug, after clinical trials linked the drug to suicidal thoughts and

behavior. The FDA indicated that the new warning stems from an ongoing

review of all ADHD drugs and their possible association with suicide.

 

A day before the FDA's ruling, the British National Health Service's

Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidelines

for doctors on non-psychiatric remedies for children, including

regular sleep, exercise and nutrition. NICE issued the guidelines

following a June 2003 British Medical advisory warning doctors that

anti-depressants can pose suicidal risks for young people.

 

On August 19th, the Commission of the European Communities,

representing 25 countries, issued the strongest warnings to date by

any medical agency against child antidepressant use, based on findings

by the European Medicines Agency. Clinical trials again confirmed that

the drugs caused suicidal behavior as well as aggression and hostility

in children and adolescents. The Commission recommended against the

prescription of these drugs for anyone under 18.

 

Brian Beaumont, spokesperson for the Vancouver Chapter of the Citizens

Commission on Human Rights said, " The UN, the FDA, Health Canada and

the European Commission should be encouraged to seek out and eradicate

the source of the problem—psychiatrists who have misled governments,

medical agencies and the public into believing ADHD actually exists.

There is no brain scan, blood test, X-Ray or `chemical imbalance' test

to verify the existence of so-called ADHD. Psychiatry's false

marketing campaign is destroying children's lives. "

 

CCHR has documented that psychiatrists and mental health interests

have promoted their false diagnoses to maintain a more than $20

billion dollar-a-year industry. The Citizens Commission on Human

Rights was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology to

investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights. For

more information go to www.cchr.org.

 

If you or a loved one has been harmed by any psychiatric practice,

please call the Citizens Commission on Human Rights at 1 (800) 670-2247.

 

 

Posted 10/08/2005 9:42 PM