Rutland Herald
Dubie, Shumlin criticize psychotic drugs for kids
May 1, 2008
By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau
MONTPELIER — The top two leaders of the Vermont Senate joined a prominent mental health advocate Wednesday in decrying the growing trend of prescribing medication to children that has only been approved for adults.
Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin said during a Statehouse press conference that Vermont needs to begin investigating how often these mind-altering drugs are given to children and why.
Shumlin said the state needs to get active in stopping the sole reliance on antipsychotic medications for treatment of children and teenagers, just as law enforcement has cracked down on the use of these drugs for recreational use.
"It should shock us all that we as a state have allowed and accepted that we are using powerful psychotic drugs on our children at an alarming rate," said Shumlin, a Democrat from Windham County.
Shumlin and Dubie joined Ken Libertoff, the executive director of the Vermont Association for Mental Health and a sharp critic of the doping trend, at Wednesday's press conference. Libertoff said he tried to jump-start the conversation over medicating children in 2007.
But a letter he wrote in March of that year to the Office of Vermont Health Access — the agency that oversees the state-run insurance programs such as Medicaid — seeking information on how many Vermont children are prescribed mental health drugs wasn't responded to until 11 months later, after a newspaper reporter asked about the delay.
''The question is, who is watching out for our children?" Libertoff said. "And my answer right now would be no one."
That information from OVHA, which Libertoff released to reporters Wednesday, gives a troubling snapshot of the trend in the state: Between April and September 2007, the state spent $10 million on anti-psychotic drugs for children through its insurance programs.
In addition, the documents show at least 6,200 Vermonters under the age of 18 who were taking at least one mental health drug. Libertoff said those numbers could be even higher because it only includes reimbursements through the state insurance programs.
He also bristled at what he called an inaccuracy in OVHA's letter this year to him that stated the "medications are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of psychiatric disorders including those of children." Libertoff said most of the drugs in question have only been FDA-approved for adults.
"We raised a number of issues that should have been looked at, but were not," Libertoff said.
A call to OVHA was not returned Wednesday, but in its letter to Libertoff on Feb. 14, Deputy Director Ann Rugg apologized for not responding in a timely fashion.
Commissioner of Mental Health Michael Hartman agreed with Libertoff that the mental health system has a serious problem with prescribing psychiatric medications to children with little or no follow-up counseling.
That situation is compounded by the fact that the FDA often makes its regulation decisions based on studies and findings sponsored by the makers of the drugs, he added.
"It's not a good situation from top to bottom," Hartman said.
In response to the concerns, Hartman announced he is launching an inter-agency review of Vermont's medication prescribing patterns for children and teenagers. There is no timeline yet on this review, he said, and comparing the final data to what other states are experiencing will be difficult because there is no standardized reporting method.
"What we know is that as a country we have been escalating the use of these medications well above what was used a decade ago," Hartman said. "We have to stop this train."
Allowing children, whose bodies and brains are still developing, to take medications approved only for adults can be disastrous because of all the unknown consequences attached, according to Kathy Holsopple, executive director of the Vermont Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, a nonprofit group.
More information needs to be supplied to parents before a child is prescribed psychiatric medications, she said. More research is also needed in this area, she added, to determine what the long-term consequences of this early drug use are.
"Children are not just little adults," Holsopple said. "We can't just give them adult medication."
Dubie, a Republican, took a more cautious tone than the others at the press conference Wednesday. He said he was troubled by the alleged overuse of psychiatric medications across the board — from children to prison inmates to senior citizens.
He pledged to be part of that dialogue at the state level aimed at "reducing the overall use of psychiatric medications in all areas."
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A warning for people taking Antipsychotic drugs.by mendosiree21,893 views
@johnnybagofdonets yes I know so we need to change the government. Throw all the bums out and replace them with decent people if there are any
childrescuer 1 year ago
/watch?v=yroVu2W-5Ac
johnnybagofdonets 1 year ago
@childrescuer
The Govt. is in on it... Don't trust Govt. or the school system that wan't the American children on Ritalin...It's a scam in dumbing down our kids....
johnnybagofdonets 1 year ago
Your kid is perceived as hyperactive in school. The school teacher’s suggest your kid needs to be evaluated. Teacher or any suggestive others needs evaluated too (on their home turf, and should be immediately followed home after work, and unexpectedly confronted on their front door step, while leaving for work the next day, in permanently altering their opinion and unwanted suggestiveness of what’s good for your own kid, in general principle [GP] of minding their own business).
johnnybagofdonets 1 year ago
/watch?v=NqRqC5Z6sGs Must be the Democrat’s (United Federation of Teachers/UFT) wanting to place Lithium in the drinking water, after all, they in actuality are the dope-pushers trying to place our children on Ritalin in making populace passive in promoting their socialist agendas. The Democrats are hood-winking America…Vote Conservative this November and take America back from these people that want to drug our children.
johnnybagofdonets 1 year ago
Drs who abuse the helpless need to be called before a GRAND JURY, tried before elected w/oath of office judges and sentenced by the jury!
concerned00citizen 3 years ago
They professional politicans r creating a new job market in case they don't get re-elected. Timeframe will be after elections so they will know how many jobs they need to create for themselves. Bartlett hopefully will not be re-elected but history says she will run another nasty campaign. Using the helpless for themselves. Shame, shame, shame.
concerned00citizen 3 years ago
Drugs - regulated? In VT? Where's Dubie been between elections? Oh, he only CARES about child in the election yrs. NEVER VOTE FOR AN INCUMBANT OR REP OR DEM. Save VT and the nation.
concerned00citizen 3 years ago
We need the federal government to investigate and change this holocaust of children and families.
childrescuer 3 years ago 2
when i look at this video i see people who are totally isolated from reality, who are playing horrible roles within the confines of their own VERY limited understanding. And these goons including news anchor woman have power over our wonderful children.
If ANYONE cares about children, protect them from this vile play going on!!
zezt 3 years ago