PARENTS BEWARE: Your freedom to choose the best course of therapy for your child is at risk. This article listed above is an outrage! Yes, there are the cases of some religious fanatics withholding medical treatment that is necessary and use what they believe is "the power of prayer" for the return of their child's health, and those children need intervening from authorities~~but not in this case.
The authorities are also trying to lump together all cases to support their intervening on parental rights pertaining to this issue. The problem with the judicial system, is they don't look at cases on an individual basis, but arrive at their decisions based on other cases that are allegedly similar.
WE THE PEOPLE need to not let this continue. WHAT CAN WE DO??? ~ if your child has ALOT of energy, too much maybe (all children have more energy than their worn out parents!) DON'T let a doctor give an official diagnosis of hyperactivity due to any SYNDROME they can legally prescribe drugs for. REMEMBER, the pharmaceutical companies are very powerful and have strong influence politically. They are not interested in the well being of you, your children or your grandchildren...they want us all on SOME sort of medication to feed their greed.
I for one was diagnosed as having bipolar depression when I was simply post-menopausal. The psychiatrist did not even ask this depressed middle aged woman in his office if I was taking any hormonal supplementation. He simply prescribed two meds and said "if they work, you're bipolar, if they don't, then you're not" ~ The two years I was on initially those meds, then a change of meds because they 'didn't work' ~ almost KILLED ME. I am not exaggerating ~ suicidal thoughts were prevalent, I could not function, I could not respond to ordinary life stresses in a functional way ~ my personality and ZEST that always got me through everything in life was GONE.
I was desperate for some sort of change, as I know too well what suicide does to the survivors, and I really did not want my life to end, I just wanted the suffering from within to end. I could not use my inner strength to WILL IT AWAY. At the suggestion of a friend, I had a simple saliva test from a doctor to test my hormone levels. They were all so severely deficient, this was said to be the cause of my depression and host of other symptoms, including the resultant osteoporosis that the scans have decided I have. Osteoporosis occurs the first two years after the menses stop. Calcium does not replenish the calcium that is lost in the bones. I suggest everyone google these issues and don't trust their doctors, get educated yourself. By the way: after the compounding of a bio-identical hormonal cream, my depressive symptoms have disappeared entirely and life is once again inhabited by ME, the ME I used to know, I am happy and fulfilled and fully functional. THERE IS NO NEED FOR WOMEN TO SUFFER FROM THIS!
With any health issue, educate yourself. Don't blindly go to the pharmacy with that piece of paper to get some drug without first researching what the symptoms could be caused from. There is no excuse for not taking your health or that of your child to the level of knowing about it yourself, before you even get to the doctor's appointment.
THE GOVERNMENT IS SLOWLY TAKING AWAY THE PARENTAL RIGHTS WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF OUR CHILDREN, using the few cases of fanatical people that shouldn't have reproduced in the first place. DON'T ALLOW A DIAGNOSIS OF ADD, BIPOLAR or any other psychological diagnosis be on the medical record of your child, as they can enforce you give your child drugs that will alter their developing mind, personality and emotions.
HERE'S THE ARTICLE THAT SPURRED THIS BLOG ENTRY: It's an outrage!
Mother battles Michigan over daughter's medication
AP – This May 12, 2011 photo shows Maryanne Godboldo in Detroit. Godboldo is locked in a battle with Michigan's … DETROIT – Frustration over her physically impaired daughter's medical care led Maryanne Godboldo to lash out at what she considered state interference and into a 12-hour standoff when Detroit police came to take the girl away.
When it ended, the unemployed mother was in handcuffs; her daughter placed in a psychiatric hospital for children.
Godboldo now is locked in a bitter battle with Michigan's Department of Human Services over her right to determine whether the girl should continue taking the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal and the government's responsibility to look after the child's welfare.
Godboldo doesn't trust doctors much — she blames some of the girl's past medical problems on possible physician negligence and complications from childhood immunizations, but did not name the doctors or release her daughter's medical records to The Associated Press. She claims the girl has responded better to holistic treatment that does not include Risperdal.
But the state is not budging on its assertion that without the proper medication, Ariana is at risk.
"Our mandate is to go into court and prove there is medical neglect," said Human Services Director Maura Corrigan, who declined to speak directly about Godboldo's case due to the ongoing court proceedings.
"Is there harm to the child? That's what we are trying to assess," Corrigan told the AP in a recent interview.
A defiant Godboldo still believes she was right to defy police, despite five days in jail and criminal charges, including discharge of a firearm, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and resisting officers.
"I was in my home. Why should I come out? They were invading my home," Godboldo said.
Citing the charges, Godboldo declined to say if she fired a gun when police arrived at her home March 24. But officers said a gun and about 43 rounds of live ammunition were in the house, and a spent shell casing was found after the standoff, according to court records. Ariana also was in the house.
"I would always be concerned with a parent who has a gun and is using it when a child is present because accidents happen," said Oakland County Probate Court Judge Linda Hallmark, who isn't connected to the case but handles child custody issues. "If a parent feels the child is going to be removed and there isn't a basis for it, there are legal avenues that the parent needs to follow."
Ariana already had her share of medical troubles when Godboldo started giving her Risperdal more than a year ago at a doctor's suggestion. She had lost her right leg below the knee as an infant and wears a prosthesis. Godboldo claims she also developed encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, before entering 6th grade.
She said her daughter complained often of being dizzy and had a hoarse voice, became more clingy and fearful, and avoided playing outside.
"It happened slowly at first, but it was enough to know when your child makes a change," Godboldo said.
She sought help at a Detroit area center. Staff there put Ariana on a treatment plan that included Risperdal, said Allison Folmar, one of Godboldo's attorneys.
Child Protective Services in its petition wrote that Ariana was diagnosed with "psychosis NOS," or "not otherwise specified," Folmar said.
"They are saying `it's something going on in her head, but we don't know what it is,'" the attorney added.
But Godboldo balked at a suggestion that her daughter be placed in a mental hospital. She took the girl's treatment to another center. She also decided to wean her from Risperdal, which sometimes is used to treat schizophrenia.
"Ariana has some issues. She requires one-on-one attention," said Folmar, describing how the girl at times appears unresponsive. But "she writes. She reads."
Risperdal often is used to contain behaviors like aggression and even treat autism, said Derek H. Suite, a board certified psychiatrist and president and chief executive of Full Circle Health in the Bronx, N.Y. Risperdal use has shown dramatic reductions in psychotic symptoms, but there can be side-effects, he added.
"Sometimes kids can have neurological problems ... muscular tics," Suite said. "These drugs can slow you down."
After Godboldo's confrontation with police, Ariana spent about a month in a children's psychiatric facility. She now is living with Godboldo's sister, Penny. A judge has ordered that other adult relatives be present when Godboldo visits with her daughter.
But "to this day, there is not one court order saying give her the medication," Folmar said. "No one has recommended giving the child the medication."
It's not unusual for parents and the state to be at odds over what's best.
Two Idaho parents lost a civil lawsuit last year when a judge ruled their rights were not violated by an officer who took custody of their infant daughter so a doctor could check for signs of meningitis. Dale and Leilani Neumann of Wisconsin were convicted of reckless homicide following the 2008 death of their 11-year-old daughter, whose undiagnosed diabetes was treated with prayer instead of conventional medicine.
Godboldo said the state was not involved in the care of her daughter until she pursued a more holistic treatment. When asked by the AP what that entailed, she replied: "God's medication."
After Godboldo refused to attend a meeting with Child Protective Services, officers arrived at her home to remove Ariana. Godboldo claimed they never showed her a court order.
Detroit police declined to comment about the case "because of the litigation involved," Sgt. Eren Stephens said in an email.
When Godboldo refused to allow police in, the officers tried to force their way through a side door but backed off after hearing a gun shot, court documents said.
"Maryann did not shoot at police and she did not fire a gun with any intention of scaring the police," Folmar said. "But even if she did fire a so-called warning shot, right now the question is of self-defense."
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