Don't forget that this mother was taking Paxil at the time of the child's death and that the PDR says Paxil can cause confusion and amnesia frequently. Imagine trying to give a toddler three different medications when there is the possibility you might be confused or forgetful [not to mention hostile which is also listed as a side-effect of Paxil].

Here is that story.

http://www.ssristories.com/show.php?item=1562

Paragraphs 16 & 17 read: "Last July, DSS representatives met with doctors, neurologists, and other medical professionals treating Rebecca, her siblings, and their mother, Carolyn Riley, now 32, after a therapist who visited their house in Weymouth told the agency Carolyn Riley seemed sluggish and drugged."

"Carolyn Riley later told investigators she takes Paxil for depression and anxiety."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/02/08/dss_dropped_inquiry_before_girl_4_was_found_dead/?page=2

DSS dropped inquiry before girl, 4, was found dead

Got assurances on medications
By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff | February 8, 2007

The state Department of Social Services received a report raising concerns about whether Rebecca Riley was taking too many powerful prescription drugs last summer, but dropped the issue after receiving assurances from her mother and doctors that the treatment was appropriate.

Despite the concerns raised by a therapist, the agency did not seek an independent review of the child's treatment until after the 4-year-old died from an overdose on Dec. 13.

DSS spokeswoman Denise Monteiro said yesterday that the agency sought the second opinion after Rebecca died because it was concerned about her 6-year-old sister and 11-year-old brother, who had received similar diagnoses and medication. DSS immediately took custody of Rebecca's siblings and put them in foster homes.

And Dr Kifuji was granted immunity. Unbelievable.

Who is Kifuji?

"They said she fabricated her children's behavioral problems, managing over three years to dupe a Tufts Medical Center child psychiatrist, Dr. Kayoko Kifuji, into authorizing drugs."

Because prescribing a 2-year-old Seroquel, Depakote and clonidine would have been perfectly fine if only she hadn't been 'duped', right?

Tufts is only a few minutes from here; I should see if they have any openings in child psychiatry. How hard can it be? I may not technically have, you know, a medical degree, but I do have Wikipedia. And a pen.

The psychiatrist (Kifuji)prescribed the medications that are (still) not approved for the age bracket of children that Rebecca Riley now burns the all-night candle for...this is an outrage and a disgusting example of America and allowing an industry to damn people and children to death, via prescribed drugs, most paid by MEDICAID.

I don't know what to say but knowing that Dr. Kifuji has nothing to do with it is out of my understanding.

I am horrified. The only person who deserves to rot in jail is that doctor. No child deserves to be given such hardcore psych meds. I know an autistic seven year old with additional psychosis who was put on risperdal at age 2 and now suffers tardive dyskinesia just because a doctor thought that was the right thing to do. ALL THE CHILD NEEDED WAS A STIMULANT. He is on focalin now and is like a whole new child.
Rebecca riley's doctor will rot in HELL like all doctors like him, even if he escapes prison time.

Kifuji gets off scott-free? ARRGGGHHHH!!!!! Hopefully his state board will maybe have a hearing and deliver what justice they can.

The mom gets justice. I will have to look up and see what the dad gets. All three were complicit in a charade, geared to minimize hassles to these lazy drug addict burden-on-society "parents." CPS deserves a hard knock, too, for dropping the ball - although we don't know how limited their resources are, giving them very limited ability to intervene. either way, this case was drastic and there was plenty of info to work with. So, I just cannot see CPS getting a total "pass" on this one.

Kifuji was just doing exactly what a lot of psychiatrists do: listen to the parents briefly, tailor the meds per their report, get them out of the office quickly, and bill for services. [This view is based on direct info from cases with which I worked as another mental health professional, and cases I know of in my personal life such as friends and neighbors, along with less-reliable web-based anecdotes - so jump on my case if you want, but I know what is true - not every psychiatrist, but a lot. Great work if you can get it.]

Andrea Yates had a similarly disinterested psychiatrist.

I am glad that justice was done with respect to the mother, but I think the psychiatrist bears some of the blame here.

The parents and the psychiatrist were co-conspirators in a scheme to suck money out of the government in the form of SSI benefits and medicaid payments.

The victims in this scheme are children who will grow up believing they are "disabled," and who will probably actually become disabled as a result of drug side-effects.

If Rebecca Riley had lived, she would almost certainly have been developmentally delayed as a result of near-constant sedation. At ages 2-4, children's brains are changing rapidly. They learn by exploring their environment and develop mental skills through play. Rebecca would have missed out on all of that during those crucial years because she was drugged to a point where teachers said she resembled a "floppy doll" and needed help to climb stairs.

I wonder how many of Dr. Kifuji's young patients have suffered lifelong, irreversible brain damage as a result of psychiatric "treatment."

How ironic that the day after the mom was convicted, the psychiatric establishment admitted that the disease for which the deadly drugs were prescribed probably did not exist. If that finding had come just a month earlier, would the jury have felt so comfortable convicting the mom of murder while the doctor got immunity?

Initial reports suggested that the dad was more clearly guilty than the mom of over-drugging the kids for the sake of convenience. It will really be a bitter irony if he gets more lenient treatment than the mom, because his jury probably WILL hear that the diagnosis of childhood bipolar disorder was a fraud.

For what it's worth, Kifuji is a woman.

Anyway, medsvstherapy is spot-on. As a practicing psychiatrist, I've seen it with my own eyes: patients make up symptoms (for themselves or their children or elders), and the doc is quick to agree and to prescribe, all for the sake of (a) procuring powerful, addictive meds (often with a street value), and/or (b) keeping the disability checks coming. And what's worse, it's done with impunity, and with zero oversight by the feds or the state boards.

From today's Boston Globe, February 11, 2010, Jurors outraged by psychiatrist’s conduct: Felt she should share culpability in toddler’s death

I think the doctor should share in the blame. It would slow doctors down on handing these drugs out like candy if they knew they could be partially responsible for what happens with the drugs they so readily dispense.

I find it interesting that the only person who didn't seem to know what was going on was the psychiatrist. The teachers, the neighbors, and the therapist were all concerned about what the parents were doing, but somehow the shrink missed it. Her assessment skills sure did suck.