Thank you.

Senseless Lifelessness-Soulful Sepulcher.

I thought this was one of the best, least terrifying reports on "bipolar disorder" that I've seen. Couric usually said children diagnosed with bipolar disorder, not bipolar children, and she referred to the books on childhood bipolar disorder as a cottage industry. Biederman did not have a good on camera presence, and the Washington doc, McClellan, did. It seems to me as a non journalist that Couric/60 minutes did a good job of emphasizing McClellan's points. Still, it's bizarre to me that parents can be charged with murder for following a doctor's orders - I know they overdosed the child - but still the doc prescribed all of these meds and sold a reluctant mother the diagnosis, which seems like a trend, psychiatrists exploiting tired, overworked, financially strapped parents by labeling their kids with mental illnesses. And then ironically, here in Atlanta, after the story there was a promo commercial for pro football sponsored by Chantix.

I was pleased with the interview, and quite frankly am still not able to write many thoughts about Rebecca's death, because it causes me great grief. I was glad to see Couric empathetic, and I felt she did a good job reporting the shocking story. When she compassionately listened to the mother describe finding her daughter, as Katie said, "Dead". I just couldn't stop crying. As a mother myself, and with a daughter who is 19 and took the very same drugs as Rebecca was prescribed, it broke my heart to imagine that the little girl was given medication that I have fought so long and hard to show what can happen when medicating children, and to see that a preschool age little girl died on those medications so recently--should scare every parent out there. The fact that psychiatrists or doctors prescribe these hardcore chemicals to such small growing bodies is not just alarming it is gross negligence. I am appalled that the parents are in jail, the scrutiny should not lay in their lap. They trusted the doctor and that doctor said Biederman from Harvard, the key thought leader in this field including ADHD, influenced her.
THAT is key to note here. Too much influence from one group of self-appointed thought leaders, along with a Pharma industry that has gone wild with reckless abandon---well this little girls death should lay heavy on ALL of their hearts and souls.
I'm a mom, and I really was so shaken by that interview for once, I was at a loss for words.

I am notorious for being able to see both sides of an issue, sometimes to a fault.

In this case, I see culpability in every adult involved in this case. The doctor who made a diagnosis at such an incredibly early age & issued dosages of prescriptions higher than most psychiatrists would have been comfortable giving. The parents who blindly clutched onto those prescriptions as a salve for severely frazzled nerves.

Some issues that neither Sally, nor 60 Minutes, touched on much or at all, which are disturbing to me, and ultimately, lean me toward more responsibility on the parents for the child's death:

1. The father is bipolar. It has been reported that he would fly into a rage when the children were too loud. (Was Rebecca's mother simply trying to keep the kids quiet to keep her husband quiet?)

2. The extra 200(!!!) pills that they wrangled out of the psychiatrist. They claimed that some of the pills were washed down the drain inadvertently and that some were simply misplaced. I'm sorry, but a responsible parent does NOT lose 200 psychiatric pills of any sort. (I believe Rebecca's parents might have been stockpiling these pills because they "worked" to keep her sedated.)

3. She took both children to the psychiatrist at the same time, as she would if they were both going to the pediatrician for a cold. If she were genuinely concerned that they were mentally ill, each child needed to be evaluated separately, possibly even by separate psychiatrists.

Lack of education is NOT an excuse for poor parenting. Did they MEAN to kill her? No, I don't think they did. But, I DO think that their lack of education about the disorder in children and the medications led to her death nonetheless.

All that said, yes, I am the mother of a child who has Bipolar Disorder. He is 12. Medication was, indeed, a last resort for us, and it is the only thing that has helped him maintain even the smallest semblance of a normal existence. He was evaluated by a psychiatrist, and we also had a full neuropsychological evaluation done. Every care is taken to keep his medication combinations to a minimum which is effective, and regular bloodwork is taken to monitor potential side effects.

With the proper *responsible* psychiatry, having lived the life we do, we know in our gut that this is the right thing to do for our child. It may not be right for every child who has been diagnosed as having BPD, but it is for ours. Just as Stephany has been so vocal here about being an advocate for her child AGAINST the BPD diagnosis, I am just as strong an advocate for my child in favor of it.

Lori, I need to clarify my daughter was misdiagnosed. At age 11 in 1999 she was dx, and at age 18 and several expert opinions later[inpatient]the diagnoses was removed. Though it appears I am against Bipolar Disorder diagnoses, I am really advocating for caution with regard of medication use in children, especially ones Rebecca's age, who cannot possibly talk about how a psych med is making her/him feel. My daughter has a unique case, where she was diagnosed in the 1999 era of Bipolar being dx replacing OCD and often ADHD. I do not question any parents choice, I have walked a long and hard road as many others like yourself have.

One thing to note is what I am glad to see now, for parents like Lori, is information that was not available to myself or my daughter when she was 11, 12, etc. She researched Zyprexa on her own at age 17 and was shocked at the side effect profile and the "new" diabetes alert.

My daughter herself is still on medication, and I am as well. I actually have some guilt there, because what I learned via my daughter's experience has my taking bipolar medication easier.

Her standing diagnoses currently after a long 8 years is Psychosis NOS.There has been much discussion re: whether or not her brain was damaged from all of the meds trialed on her, and no one will ever know. She appears as an Alzheimer's patient most of the time, and it is a rare day that I hear her speak.

I've lived with rages, and objects thrown, held her shirt while she attempted to jump from the car on freeways; I've saved her life from physical harm for many years, and much of the time those events happened when she was on antidepressants, and high doses of Zyprexa. This is just her story, but just know that I've been there.

My goal is to tell her story for those parents who might be questioning the medication and dx, like I did. But in no way do I question another parent's choice.

I think at the end of the day, the Dr. is at fault because the child care providers and the social worker went to the trouble of notifying the Dr. that Rebecca seemed like a zombie.

BUT these parents were far more callous and culpable than was presented last night. I am more than casually connected to this, and if you read the multitude of local news reports (Boston Herald,Boston Globe,Patriot Ledger) you will see that they sought the diagnosis. They went out of their way to go to this Dr. because the other two had gotten the diagnosis. They sought not once but twice to get the "label" from a state appointed physician so they could collect SSI (as they did for the other two). Their only source of income was SSI. The mother had already had an older child permenantly removed from the family, and Rebecca's father, who is not the father of the 4th, unmentioned child, is currently awaiting trial for sexual abuse while that child was visiting. Rebecca was very, very sick in the days leading up to her death. Her uncle, who lived in the home, pleaded with them to call the Dr. He stated Rebecca was crying outside her parents door in the hours before she died; her father screamed at her to go back to bed. Mother relented, and allowed her to lie on the floor beside the bed. A sick 4 year old, ON THE FLOOR,in DECEMBER. That right there tells you all you need to know. What no one tells you is she was on the floor, in her underwear, no blanket, and had vomited in her sleep. She was treated like a dog, and if it wasn't the overmedication that killed her, some other neglect probably would have. This wide eyed "I was only doing what the Doctor told me" B.S. is the attorney's line.
And, they are in jail because they are poor, and come from poor, and no one can afford their bail.

This is the best comment on this blog. Everyone, please take note of this excellent investigative reporting by anon. It shows the family in a completely different light. I wish, Phil, that you had the time, and perhaps the inclination, to get additional facts for the stories you post here. Like you used to, in your great article "No Exit."