E-mail this PageKelly Preston Takes Campaign to Stop Drug Coercion in Schools to the U.S. Senate
U.S. Food and Drug Enforcement Administration
issues warning on antidepressant with suicide risks:
Drug has been forced onto schoolchildren.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Actor Kelly Preston was in Washington DC on June 17th and 18th to gather Senate support for federal safeguards prohibiting children being forced to take psychiatric drugs as a requisite for educational services. Preston said federal legislative action is necessary, especially in light of the June 10 British ban on the use of an antidepressant, Seroxat (Paxil) in under 18-year-olds. Nine studies suggest the drug triggers suicidal tendencies in children. Despite the manufacturer not recommending the drug for pediatric use, many U.S. psychiatrists have prescribed it to children anyway and children have been forced to take it through schools. Following Britain's decision, on June 19th the U.S. Food and Drug Administration publicly warned that Paxil should not be given to children under the age of 18.
On May 21, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Child Medication Safety Act of 2003 by a majority vote of 425 to 1. It calls for states to implement procedures prohibiting school personnel from requiring a child to obtain a drug under the Controlled Substances Act, which includes stimulants and some antidepressants, but not Paxil. Preston wants the Senate to pass the same bill.
Joining Preston in DC was New York mother, Mrs. Patricia Weathers, whose 7-year-old son, Michael, was forced by his school to take a stimulant, then Paxil, to be able to remain in school. While taking the drug, he experienced wild mood swings, argued irrationally and ran away from home. When an independent doctor helped withdraw him from the drug, Michael dramatically improved but Mrs. Weathers was charged with medical neglect for withdrawing him from it. The charges were later dropped. Mrs. Weathers now heads a national grassroots parents group, collecting over 300 signatures from parents across the country who have been pressured, threatened or coerced to drug their children through schools.
Such coercion has also prompted state legislative action. On June 6, 2003, Colorado became the fifth state to enact legislation that prohibits school personnel forcing parents to drug a child as a requirement for educational services. In the past two years, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota and Virginia have passed laws and in 2003, 15 states introduced similar laws. However, parents believe that a federal initiative is needed to fully protect their children from drugs that have been known to cause violent and suicidal tendencies, weight loss, heart irregularities and even death.
Officials from the mental health watchdog Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), founded by the Church of Scientology in 1969, have also been a voice for thousands of parents who report psychiatric abuse of children in schools to the group's website, www.FightForKids.com. CCHR's U.S. president, Bruce Wiseman, says that sales from stimulants prescribed to children and teens in 2002 were more than $1 billion.
Other well-known celebrity activists have been outspoken on this issue in Washington. Last September, Lisa-Marie Presley testified before the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee in support of federal protections against coerced child drugging. Recently on Capitol Hill in March, Juliette Lewis visited members of Congress to voice her support for the issue. Kirstie Alley and Lindsey Bartilson have also given outspoken support for a federal bill to safeguard parents and children.
For more information contact Marla Filidei at 800-869-2247.
Published: May 25, 2003
Author: Marla Filidei
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