John Whitehead's Commentary
An Orwellian Nightmare: Mandatory Mental Health Screening of Children
In embracing a major new health initiative, which is based on a report by the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, the American government has taken a giant step toward an Orwellian nightmare. The commission has recommended mental health screening for all school-aged children, including those in preschool. The recommendations also include expanding school-based mental health programs that require specific treatment for certain conditions, including the wide use of drugs.
Some states have already moved forward to implement recommendations by the commission. For example, the Illinois legislature has passed a plan to screen the mental health of all pregnant women and children up to 18 years of age. The plan also includes the use of antidepressant drugs. Under such a plan, both children and adults will be screened for so-called mental illness during their routine physical exams.
This all began in April 2002 when President Bush launched the new mental health commission. After supposedly conducting a comprehensive study, the commission recommended mental health screening for "consumers of all ages," including preschool children. Schools, the commission concluded, are in a "key position" to screen the 52 million students and 6 million adults who work in the public schools.
There are many problems with the government's move to screen our children for mental illness. Such programs are spurious at best since there are no proven "treatments" for the prevention of mental illness. Moreover, to many alleged mental health experts, virtually everything is a mental illness--including mild depression, sadness, shyness, forgetfulness and so on. So why is this happening?
The answer may lie in the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (or TMAP). TMAP was promoted by the commission as a "model" medication treatment plan that "illustrates an evidence-based practice that results in better consumer outcomes."
The TMAP was started as a pilot program under then-Governor Bush as an alliance of individuals from the University of Texas, the pharmaceutical industry and mental health and corrections systems. But according to World Net Daily, the Texas project recently sparked controversy "when a Pennsylvania government employee revealed that state officials with influence over the plan had received money and perks from drug companies who stand to gain from it." Allen Jones, an employee of the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General, said that the "political/pharmaceutical alliance" that developed the Texas project, which promotes the use of expensive antidepressant and anti-psychotic drugs, was actually behind the recommendation of the New Freedom Commission. As such, they were "poised to consolidate the TMAP effort into a comprehensive national policy to treat mental illness with expensive, patented medications of questionable benefit and deadly side effects, and to force private insurers to pick up more of the tab."
Moreover, as one reporter pointed out, "Jones discovered that TMAP...was in fact driven by pharmaceutical companies who were lavishing Texas politicians, as well as making sure their most expensive patented drugs (some with potentially lethal side effects) were listed as the designated treatments on the algorithms." Eli Lilly, for instance, the manufacturer of olanzapine, one of the drugs recommended in the plan, has multiple ties to the Bush administration, a clear example of what one writer termed a "cozy political/pharmaceutical alliance that's taking over the mental health care of your children." In fact, the elder Bush was a member of Lilly's board of directors and President Bush appointed Lilly's chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, to the Homeland Security Council. And of Lilly's $1.6 million in political contributions in 2002, 82% went to Bush and the Republican Party.
All this points to why the term "consumer" keeps cropping up in these reports. But who are the consumers? Now they are school children and pregnant women. But soon it will be everyone because we are essentially all consumers and guinea pigs for experimental drugs.
That is why Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex.) introduced an amendment in Congress against "mental health screening." Unfortunately, it failed by a vote of 95-315. Paul, an OB/GYN physician for over 30 years, in a letter to his congressional colleagues wrote: "As you know, psychotropic drugs are increasingly prescribed for children who show nothing more than children's typical rambunctious behavior. Many children have suffered harmful effects from these drugs. Yet some parents have been charged with child abuse for refusing to drug their children. The federal government should not promote national mental health screening programs that will force the use of these psychotropic drugs such as Ritalin."
Already this year, approximately six million school children--roughly one out of every eight--will take Ritalin for what is termed "attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder" (ADHD), a condition that was once labeled hyperactivity. However, the drugs that are prescribed for ADHD are cocaine-like stimulants. And according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the human nervous system cannot differentiate between cocaine, amphetamines and methylphenidate (Ritalin).
Recent evidence indicates a multitude of side effects for children who take Ritalin. Ritalin has also been tied in with abnormally violent behavior in young people, which is detailed in my article Ritalin Nation: Are We Killing Our Children.
Despite such evidence, the proponents of mental health science keep the pressure on. There is even an attempt at an end-run around federal law. The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), for example, is a federal law that was intended to protect the rights of parents and students. The PPRA allows parents to inspect their children's instructional materials and requires that schools obtain "written parental consent" before schools engage in such programs as mental health screening. However, under a program developed by some Columbia University physicians called Teen Screen, the protections of the PPRA would be completely undermined. As one of their publications proclaims: "If the screening will be given to all students, as opposed to some, it becomes part of the curriculum and no longer requires active parental consent (i.e., if all ninth graders will be screened as a matter of policy, it is considered part of the curriculum)."
The wolf, so to speak, is at the door, and it is a government/pharmaceutical conglomerate of immense proportions. This is not science fiction; it is happening now. And although we stand to lose our constitutional rights in the name of mental health screening, we could lose much, much more. As the clear evidence shows, the side effects of psychotropic drugs are severe, with some even leading to suicide.
Thus, we are a nation at risk. Our rights, our children and their future could very well be lost in a haze of forced drugging by our government in conjunction with the powerful drug companies.
There are some immediate steps that can be taken to combat the problem. First, learn your rights as a parent under the PPRA. Also, contact your local school officials and demand that you be notified immediately if they are conducting mental health screening on your children. And contact your representatives in Congress and protest these invasive activities that are being foisted on the American people by the government/drug cartel.
Some states have already moved forward to implement recommendations by the commission. For example, the Illinois legislature has passed a plan to screen the mental health of all pregnant women and children up to 18 years of age. The plan also includes the use of antidepressant drugs. Under such a plan, both children and adults will be screened for so-called mental illness during their routine physical exams.
This all began in April 2002 when President Bush launched the new mental health commission. After supposedly conducting a comprehensive study, the commission recommended mental health screening for "consumers of all ages," including preschool children. Schools, the commission concluded, are in a "key position" to screen the 52 million students and 6 million adults who work in the public schools.
There are many problems with the government's move to screen our children for mental illness. Such programs are spurious at best since there are no proven "treatments" for the prevention of mental illness. Moreover, to many alleged mental health experts, virtually everything is a mental illness--including mild depression, sadness, shyness, forgetfulness and so on. So why is this happening?
The answer may lie in the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (or TMAP). TMAP was promoted by the commission as a "model" medication treatment plan that "illustrates an evidence-based practice that results in better consumer outcomes."
The TMAP was started as a pilot program under then-Governor Bush as an alliance of individuals from the University of Texas, the pharmaceutical industry and mental health and corrections systems. But according to World Net Daily, the Texas project recently sparked controversy "when a Pennsylvania government employee revealed that state officials with influence over the plan had received money and perks from drug companies who stand to gain from it." Allen Jones, an employee of the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General, said that the "political/pharmaceutical alliance" that developed the Texas project, which promotes the use of expensive antidepressant and anti-psychotic drugs, was actually behind the recommendation of the New Freedom Commission. As such, they were "poised to consolidate the TMAP effort into a comprehensive national policy to treat mental illness with expensive, patented medications of questionable benefit and deadly side effects, and to force private insurers to pick up more of the tab."
Moreover, as one reporter pointed out, "Jones discovered that TMAP...was in fact driven by pharmaceutical companies who were lavishing Texas politicians, as well as making sure their most expensive patented drugs (some with potentially lethal side effects) were listed as the designated treatments on the algorithms." Eli Lilly, for instance, the manufacturer of olanzapine, one of the drugs recommended in the plan, has multiple ties to the Bush administration, a clear example of what one writer termed a "cozy political/pharmaceutical alliance that's taking over the mental health care of your children." In fact, the elder Bush was a member of Lilly's board of directors and President Bush appointed Lilly's chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, to the Homeland Security Council. And of Lilly's $1.6 million in political contributions in 2002, 82% went to Bush and the Republican Party.
All this points to why the term "consumer" keeps cropping up in these reports. But who are the consumers? Now they are school children and pregnant women. But soon it will be everyone because we are essentially all consumers and guinea pigs for experimental drugs.
That is why Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex.) introduced an amendment in Congress against "mental health screening." Unfortunately, it failed by a vote of 95-315. Paul, an OB/GYN physician for over 30 years, in a letter to his congressional colleagues wrote: "As you know, psychotropic drugs are increasingly prescribed for children who show nothing more than children's typical rambunctious behavior. Many children have suffered harmful effects from these drugs. Yet some parents have been charged with child abuse for refusing to drug their children. The federal government should not promote national mental health screening programs that will force the use of these psychotropic drugs such as Ritalin."
Already this year, approximately six million school children--roughly one out of every eight--will take Ritalin for what is termed "attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder" (ADHD), a condition that was once labeled hyperactivity. However, the drugs that are prescribed for ADHD are cocaine-like stimulants. And according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the human nervous system cannot differentiate between cocaine, amphetamines and methylphenidate (Ritalin).
Recent evidence indicates a multitude of side effects for children who take Ritalin. Ritalin has also been tied in with abnormally violent behavior in young people, which is detailed in my article Ritalin Nation: Are We Killing Our Children.
Despite such evidence, the proponents of mental health science keep the pressure on. There is even an attempt at an end-run around federal law. The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), for example, is a federal law that was intended to protect the rights of parents and students. The PPRA allows parents to inspect their children's instructional materials and requires that schools obtain "written parental consent" before schools engage in such programs as mental health screening. However, under a program developed by some Columbia University physicians called Teen Screen, the protections of the PPRA would be completely undermined. As one of their publications proclaims: "If the screening will be given to all students, as opposed to some, it becomes part of the curriculum and no longer requires active parental consent (i.e., if all ninth graders will be screened as a matter of policy, it is considered part of the curriculum)."
The wolf, so to speak, is at the door, and it is a government/pharmaceutical conglomerate of immense proportions. This is not science fiction; it is happening now. And although we stand to lose our constitutional rights in the name of mental health screening, we could lose much, much more. As the clear evidence shows, the side effects of psychotropic drugs are severe, with some even leading to suicide.
Thus, we are a nation at risk. Our rights, our children and their future could very well be lost in a haze of forced drugging by our government in conjunction with the powerful drug companies.
There are some immediate steps that can be taken to combat the problem. First, learn your rights as a parent under the PPRA. Also, contact your local school officials and demand that you be notified immediately if they are conducting mental health screening on your children. And contact your representatives in Congress and protest these invasive activities that are being foisted on the American people by the government/drug cartel.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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