Sheller Stephen - Pharmageddon A Nation Betrayed

PHARMAGEDDON:

A Nation Betrayed

PHARMAGEDDON:

A Nation Betrayed

A NATIONAL TRIAL LAWYER REVEALS AN
INDUSTRY SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL

Stephen A. Sheller Esq.
with New York Times best-selling author
Sidney D. Kirkpatrick

Visit www.ANationBetrayed.com for updates, news, video, and more.

2016 Cape Cedar Media

All rights reserved

ISBN: 0615893163

ISBN-13: 9780615893167

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013951347

Cape Cedar Media, Norfolk, VA

The main reason we take so many drugs is that drug companies dont sell drugs; they sell lies about drugs.

Dr. Peter Gtzsche, professor of clinical research design and analysis and director of the Nordic Cochrane Center

Introduction
Death by Prescription

On April 16, 2009, seven-year-old Gabriel Myers locked himself in the bathroom of his suburban Florida foster home, coiled a detachable shower hose around his neck, and hung himself. A bright, charming, and often-sweet little boy with close-cropped blond hair and brown eyes, Gabriel was acting out, his behavior having spiraled out of control over the previous year. The police investigation would reveal a tragedy nearly beyond belief: child service caseworkers were medicating him with adult doses of antipsychotic drugs, the negative side effects of which include an increased risk of suicide and violent behavior.

Prescription drug therapy for young Gabriel hadnt begun in Florida but back in Ohio, where he was living with his grandparents while his mother, Candace, was serving jail time. Gabriel, four years old at the time, had begun wetting his bed and acting out in the classroom. On the recommendation of a school therapist, he was diagnosed with ADHD and put on Adderall XR, an amphetamine that is popularly prescribed to children and teens to enhance concentration in the classroom. The drug may have temporarily masked the symptoms he was being treated for, but the root cause of his misbehavior wasnt something chemical stimulants could remedy. It rarely is. Gabriel had repeatedly been molested at knifepoint by a twelve-year-old schoolmate. An abuse report was filed two years after the sexual abuse occurred, but no follow-up was conducted. By the time state authorities were made aware of Gabriels molestation, he was living with his mother in Florida.

Gabriel came to the attention of police in 2008, when Broward County patrolmen found his mother, Candace, unconscious in her car parked behind a Dennys restaurant. In the front seat beside her, they found powder and crack cocaine along with Xanax and oxycodone in unmarked pharmaceutical containers. Gabriel, then age six, was in the backseat. The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) took custody of Gabriel pending legal proceedings against his mother. Gabriels father, Rocky Newman, was unable to assume custody because he

During his initial DCF evaluation, Gabriel was forthcoming about his mothers drug addiction and the molestation he had suffered in Ohio. He was again diagnosed with ADHD and was this time placed on the next-generation amphetamine Vyvanse. Though it was only approved for use by adults, Vyvanse could, like the vast majority of drugs used to treat ADD and ADHD, be prescribed to a child off-label with a physicians approval. Off-label means that even though the FDA has not approved the drug for a specific condition, doctors can prescribe it if they think it is the best option.

However, rather than enhancing Gabriels ability to behave in the classroom, Gabriel became more agitated and disruptive. His foster parents and schoolteachers reported more extreme behavioral outbursts; he was inappropriately touching other students and squirted classmates with red dye from a spray bottle. Gabriel was prescribed a combination of Lexapro, used to treat anxiety disorders in teens and adults, and Zyprexa, an antipsychotic that was approved by the FDA for adults with schizophrenia. Both of these drugs are known to increase the risk of violence and suicide. Patients sometimes suffer sudden mood swings and an inability to control rage. His court-appointed psychiatrist apparently didnt know or take the trouble to investigate.

In the last few days of his life, Gabriel told classmates that he felt a strong desire to kill people but didnt have a plan in mind. His teachers reported that he sometimes appeared dazed in class and would trip, fall, or walk into things. At other times, he would suddenly laugh or cry uncontrollably. His medication was changed once more, this time to Symbyax, a powerful Zyprexa compound mixed with Prozac. He was also informed by DCF caseworkers that his mother would no longer have visitation rights and that he would be relocated to Ohio, where the alleged molestation had occurred.

On the day before he took his own life, Gabriel complained of severe stomach problems, was lightheaded and nauseous, and vomited in the school lunchroom. He was excused from classes and didnt return to school the next day. Though state law mandated that he be supervised by a foster parent or certified caregiver, he was home alone with his foster fathers nineteen-year-old son, who was not trained or equipped to handle an emergency situation. At lunchtime, Gabriel tossed the meal that had been prepared for him into the kitchen trash can, announced that he was going to take his own life, and locked himself in the bathroom.

Responsibility for Gabriels suicide can reasonably be shared by many, foremost among them his own parents, who were clearly unable to care for their son. However, there were many opportunities for intervention by those who were charged with protecting him. Had police investigated Gabriels sexual-abuse claims in a more timely way, he might have been put under the supervision of a therapist who was specifically trained to address his particular needs. A subsequent investigation substantiated Gabriels story but not in time to do the most good or save other children from a teenage sexual predator at large in an Ohio elementary school. Florida authorities also didnt request a copy of his child welfare history in Ohio, which would have presumably helped caseworkers and teachers better understand why the child felt compelled to act out.

Most troubling of all was how Gabriel had been medicated for the last year of his life. Rather than deal with the root cause of his behavior, his DCF-appointed psychiatrist medicated him with powerful psychotropic drugs used to sedate adult patients. As the police investigation revealed, Gabriels court-appointed psychiatrist spent no more than a few minutes with the boy before prescribing him these medications and, when later questioned by reporters, said that he could not specifically recall Gabriel as he was one of many foster children in his care. Lack of a proper interview, however, did not prevent the psychiatrist from writing prescriptions that increased the likelihood of violent behavior. Moreover, permission to administer these drugs was not obtained from Gabriels mother or the courts, as mandated by state law. The only document on record was a generic medical release signed by Candace on the night police found her unconscious from a drug overdose.