IL launches compulsory mental health screening for children and pregnant w

[DustMolecule]

women

July 19,2004

<snip>
CHICAGO -- Finishing up a week of public forums, the members of the Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership ended early in Chicago today following testimony from an overwhelming number of program supporters who agree that mental health screening is needed for Illinois children ages zero through 18.
<snip>
"This program will not be voluntary," Paul Schneider of Champaign told the task force. "No one will be exempt. If a family doesn't want to accept the school's evaluation of their child's mental health, what recourse will they have?"

Schneider said he is very concerned that pharmaceutical companies will benefit tremendously from having an explosion of young children diagnosed with hyperactivity or ADHD whose parents are told that their children need Ritalin or another psychotropic drug.
<snip>
Schneider said he was also concerned when a woman asked about how sexual orientation would be handled in the program.
<snip>

More: http://www.illinoisleader.com/news/newsview.asp?c=17748

Related articles:

http://illinoisleader.com/news/newsview.asp?c=17852 (July 21, 2004)

http://illinoisleader.com/news/newsview.asp?c=17900 (July 23, 2004)

[ElsewheresDaughter]

1. 1984

[frank frankly]

5. brave new world + 1984 + dr. strangelove = BushCo

RITALIN FOR EVERYONE!

[frank frankly]

2. no way in hell

i would/will never submit to anything like this.

[Sparkly]

3. That is unbelievable!!

:wow:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Holistic alternatives

Holistic MDs often use alternative methods for dealing with ADHD, autism, and other problems, but of course the pharmaceutical industry hates them--any idea if holistic approaches will be allowed? Probably not. Personally, if I lived in IL and had a kid, I'd be ticked off if they were evaluated for no reason.

[frank frankly]

6. NY Times: In a Shift, Bush Moves to Block Medical Suits

1 + 1 = 2

I DO NOT LOVE BIG BROTHER.


WASHINGTON, July 24 — The Bush administration has been going to court to block lawsuits by consumers who say they have been injured by prescription drugs and medical devices.

The administration contends that consumers cannot recover damages for such injuries if the products have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In court papers, the Justice Department acknowledges that this position reflects a "change in governmental policy," and it has persuaded some judges to accept its arguments, most recently scoring a victory in the federal appeals court in Philadelphia.

Allowing consumers to sue manufacturers would "undermine public health" and interfere with federal regulation of drugs and devices, by encouraging "lay judges and juries to second-guess" experts at the F.D.A., the government said in siding with the maker of a heart pump sued by the widow of a Pennsylvania man. Moreover, it said, if such lawsuits succeed, some good products may be removed from the market, depriving patients of beneficial treatments.

In 2002, at a legal symposium, the Bush administration outlined plans for "F.D.A. involvement in product liability lawsuits," and it has been methodically pursuing that strategy. The administration's participation in the cases is consistent with President Bush's position on "tort reform."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/25/politics/25DRUG.html?...

[murielm99]

7. I went to school with someone who had one of those birth

control devices -- a coil -- that was made my Corning, I think. If anyone remembers the manufacturer, tell me.

Anyway, this device was implanted by a doctor. She became so ill from the thing she nearly died, and was forced to have a hysterectomy at 24.

This is a lif-changing thing for such a young woman. The choice to have children was taken from her. Maybe she did not want children, but it still should have been her choice!

She was involved in a class action suit, and recieved a settlement.

I guess * thinks it would have been fine to keep this product on the market, killing and maiming young women. After all, it had FDA approval.

[Kanary]

8. I told a "progressive" DEM about this, and was called "paranoid"

I guess they should just move to IL, and test it out, eh?

Is *ANYONE* going to stage a mass protest about this? Or just passively submit.....

Kanary

[Ilsa]

9. Pregnant women shouldn't be railroaded

into being screened for depression. Getting treated is a voluntary activity. Many women have baby blues; it doesn't mean they are going to kill their kids or that they have a psychosis.

These people who sponsored and passed this shit need to have their heads examined.

[DustMolecule]

10. I really liked (& totally agree with) this comment in the July 23 article

Hayes, frustrated that the state legislation became law with little or no fanfare or notice, even from conservative, pro-family lawmakers, suggested at the end of today's testimony, "In summary, it is neither beneficial to children, nor to taxpayers, to ask government bureaucracies to set competency standards for mental health.

"With some amount of lightheartedness, may I propose that the mental health of the perpetrators of this concept be evaluated?"