This is really criminal and scary. How much do we want to bet that every foster kid in the state is being medicated on some cocktail? And believe me it's not just boys getting the ADHD diagnosis any more and not even just kids.

I often wish there was something we could do about that. The injustice of it pains me. If it were cats or dogs people would be all over the case. But kids have few champions.

I don't like or trust anyone who is remotely connected to the political scene, but this one I could almost kiss...

From a different reporter at the same press conference, quoting the spin from our Commissioner of Mental Health:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/04/30/mental_health_group_kids_on_psychiatric_drugs_not_well_monitored/

...........

But Hartman disputed Libertoff's assertion that, "Many if not most of these medications have never been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the treatment of children and adolescents."

Hartman pointed to a list kept by a federal agency, the National Institute of Mental Health, identifying 25 commonly used medications and the ages at which the Food and Drug Administration had determined children may begin taking them.

Among them: Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder may begin taking the stimulants Adderall at 3, Concerta or Ritalin at 6. Depression and anxiety may be treated with Zoloft at 6 or Luvox at 8. The anti-psychotic drug Haldol can be given at 2 and the mood stabilizer Depakote can be given at 3.

............

The national suicide rate for 10- to 19-year-olds was 2.2 per 100,000 in 2003, he said. But after "black box" warnings were placed on some antidepressant drugs about them causing suicidal thoughts in young people, prescriptions of those drugs dropped, and the teen suicide rate jumped by 18.2 percent -- to 2.6 per 100,000 -- the next year, Hartman said.