Posted on 08/02/2007 7:05:34 AM PDT by Lennyq
For Immediate Release
Media review copies and interviews available on request
Contact: Fred Baughman, MD fredbaughmanmd@cox.net Author: The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes "Patients" of Normal Children http://www.trafford.com/4dcgi/view-item?item=9628
Is your child taking Ritalin? Is there a plague of psychiatric diseases in children?
This is a true story.
On March 21, 2000, fourteen-year old Matthew Smith was having a good time skateboarding with two of his cousins. Suddenly, he collapsed to the floor and started turning blue. His cousins called 911 but the paramedics couldn’t revive him. At the hospital he was pronounced dead from a heart attack – a heart attack caused by Ritalin.
Matthews parents had been giving him Ritalin since he was six years old. Ritalin is classified as a Schedule II drug, which the DEA reserves for the most dangerous and addictive drugs that can be prescribed legally.
But to the educators at Matthew’s school, Ritalin was simply a magic pill that made troublesome students easier to manage.
Prior to being diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Matthew was an energetic, boisterous highly social child who did not focus on his school work quite the way his teachers wanted him to.
Was he in dire need of medication?
The push to label Matthew occurred when he was in the first grade. School officials said that he was fidgety in his seat and would sometimes disrupt the class, and that he often had trouble staying focused on his work.
The school social worker called Matthews parents and said that Matthew needed to take medication saying, “He’s got ants in his pants”.
This unqualified social worker made the diagnosis and recommendation for medication and handed them a list of physicians who would provide them with a prescription.
Even though this constitutes the practice of medicine without a license, this same process is applied in school districts across the nation by teachers, administrators, counselors, psychologists and social workers.
According to Dr. Fred Baughman, there is an epidemic taking place all across America.
Parents are told to place their children on Ritalin or Adderall or their child will be refused attendance at school and they will be charged with “medical neglect.”
“Parents are succumbing to the threats from school officials without any idea of the possible side effects of these addictive, dangerous drugs.
In San Diego at just one school, 65 percent of the fifth graders had been diagnosed with ADD and were on medication.
There are over 6 million children in the United States who have been diagnosed with ADHD and drugged for ADHD.
“We are drugging normal children so that they act less like normal children and forcing them to act like the docile adults who are supposed to be teaching them”.
Dr. Baughman is one of numerous medical professionals who recently testified in front of the FDA and Congress.
“ADHD is not a disorder, disease, syndrome or chemical imbalance of the brain. It is not over-diagnosed, under-diagnosed, or mis-diagnosed. It doesn’t exist. It is a total, 100%, Fraud.”
Nowhere in world’s literature is there proof that a single psychiatric diagnosis is an actual disease.
“ADHD and all of psychiatry’s “chemical imbalances” are manufactured diseases- invented diseases that results in huge profits for psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies.”
We have allowed school and health care professionals to blanket classify behavior and establish bounds for student conduct in the school environment. We hand out drugs to kids as freely as we give them Flintstone vitamins.
In spite of schools with posted signs everywhere that say “drug free zones” it turns out that nearly everywhere, the most effective drug pushers are the legal ones.
Dr. Baughman, author of the new book, The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes “Patients” Out of Normal Children says that parents and educators have to stop thinking that the use of drugs is safe or necessary.
“We’ve gone on a diagnostic frenzy and sought out a chemical means for achieving peace and quiet in the classroom. Ritalin may solve problems for teachers but it’s not helping the children.”
Once children are labeled as ADHD they are no longer treated as normal. The first drug they ingest is an intoxication, a poisoning, their first and only disease. ADD and ADHD simply do not exist.
“The real question is how we go about destroying the monster we’ve created. We’ve been conned into believing that our normal children are abnormal--diseased. We’ve been lulled into believing there is a collective madness.
The real evil forces reside in our schools and physicians offices.
Our children act in ways that bother adults. We’ve got to now teach the adults that the solution is up to them. We know that there are sane people who are horrified at the thought of participating in a massive abuse of children.
It’s horrifying. There are over half a million children between the ages of 2 and 5 now being treated with powerful drugs for ADHD. Nobody has any idea of the effects these drugs will have on children so young.
We have got to stop putting children on drugs.
The ADHD Fraud How Psychiatry Makes “Patients” Out of Normal Children By Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD With Craig Hovey
ISBN 1-4120-6458-9
US$24.95, C$28.69, EUR20.49, £14.35 Published by Trafford Publishing Soon to be translated into Spanish
Dr. Baughman’s book is filled with real life case studies of children who have been harmed as a result of a diagnosis of ADHD. He also describes the evolution of the epidemic, and how Ritalin was created and it’s history as a drug in search of a disease.
Dr. Baughman presents the 14 symptoms that appear in the 1987 Diagnostic and Statistical manual that for the basis for most diagnosis of ADHD and shows that most of them really amount to a list of the things that normal children do that irritate adults who do not have the patience compassion or interest to tolerate them.
Dr. Baughman urges parents, teachers, and physicians to recognize the basic truth of the scientific literature; no proof exists. For a disease to be present there must be a macroscopic (visible to the naked eye, a palpable lump, an audible heart murmur), microscopic or chemical abnormality in life, or at autopsy.
With ADHD – there is NO abnormality at all. No psychiatric disorder/chemical imbalance/disease is an objective abnormality—a disease--not one.
These are normal child behaviors. That is all.
It is a problem of adults who cannot deal with these children.
The ADHD Fraud How Psychiatry Makes “Patients” Out of Normal Children is available in bookstores and online.
For more information visit www.adhdfraud.org or visit the website of the publisher www.trafford.com
Dr. Baughman can offer insights and comments and reports on the latest ADHD facts:
Where did ADHD come from?
"They made a list of the most common symptoms of emotional discomfiture of children and in a stroke that could not be more devoid of science or Hippocratic motive-termed them " diseases"/ "chemical imbalances" each needing/requiring a "chemical balancer"- a pill." Thirty-five years of research into "biological" psychiatry's "chemical imbalances"/"diseases.” In 1970, when "hyperactivity"/ ADHD was first represented to Congress to be a brain disease, only 150,000 had it. Today, not by science, but by the "big lie" -saying it is a disease often enough, 6-7 million have it! Nor is ADHD the only "chemical imbalance"/"disease" of the brain. They give us conduct disorder (CD), oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD), major depressive disorder (MDD), OCD, PTSD, GAD, SAD, etc., a total of 374 psychiatric disorders from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) of the American Psychiatric Association (APA); “chemical imbalances” of the brain said to need "chemical balancers" –pills. How convenient.
How many people are affected?
In 2003 Congressional hearings it was said that 17% of the nation's school children, 8.8 million, were labeled and drugged by psychiatry. Toady it is 20%; one in five; 10.4 million! As if this were not enough the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health is set to foist upon us the compulsory, government-mandated mental health screening of all 52 million US schoolchildren. Clearly, it is a psycho-pharm-government cartel. When normal people are told they have a disease to make "patients" of them, we have a violation of informed consent which equals medical malpractice. When normals are lied to, to make "patients" of them, to drug, for-profit, we have a battery - poisoning. Undoubtedly, this is the greatest health care fraud in US history.
Media review copies and interviews available on request.
About the Authors
Fred A Baughman Jr., MD, is an adult and child neurologist certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and a Fellow of the Academy of Neurology. He has discovered and described real diseases. He has testified before the US Congress, the European Union, and innumerable other national and international government bodies. He is an expert witness in lawsuits and legal cases regarding psychiatry and invented diseases.
Dr. Baughman is an experienced media guest and has appeared on many national radio and television shows. He has authored over a hundred articles in medical journals and the national press. He resides in San Diego with his wife Annette.
Craig Hovey teaches economics at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. He is a writer who’s interest in the book's subject was sparked when told by school personnel that his oldest son suffered from ADHD and had to take Ritalin.
Read about the March 22 Congressional Hearings:
ADHD EXPERTS HEAD TO WASHINGTON - IS THE FDA UP TO THE TASK? -- HTTP://WWW.OPEDNEWS.COM/ARTICLES/GENERA_EVELYN_P_060314_ADHD_EXPERTS_HEAD_TO.HTM
FEEL FREE TO REQUEST A COPY THE TESTIMONY OF FRED A. BAUGHMAN JR., MD, TO THE MARCH 22, 2006, MEETING OF THE FDA-PEDIATRIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
What People Are Saying
Read this book before someone you love is labeled and drugged.
Nicholas A. Cummings, Former President, American Psychiatric Association
All parents with a child in school need to read Fred Baughman’s book to learn the reasons to be skeptical when informed that their child has “Attention Deficit Disorder” and must be treated with psychotropic drugs.
Representative Ron Paul, 14th District (Texas), U.S. House of Representatives
This book documents (how) the charlatan psychiatric profession abuses normal, healthy children with brain destructive drugs for the unconscionable purpose of creating so-called ‘mental illnesses’ such as ADHD for financial gain.
Dr. Robert L. Simonds, Chair, National Association of Evangelicals
I wept as I read this book. As a retired teacher, school trustee, and grandmother of a Ritalin/SSRI/Risperdal damaged grandson, I know that Dr. Baughman speaks the truth.
Sharon Steele Kientz, 1995, National Right to Read Foundation, Teacher of the Year
Dr. Baughman has written a powerful expose of psychiatry and its hydra-headed influence with the FDA, drug companies, and public school personnel who pressure parents into unwittingly poisoning their children with dangerous drugs for the non-disease-ADHD. A must read for every parent of a school aged child.
Dr. Robert Sweet, Former President & Founder of the National Right to Read Foundation, Professional Staff, Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. Congress
The ADHD Fraud provides much needed, detailed, and practical advice as to how to prevent children from being earmarked as victims of ADHD. This book deserves the attention of every parent… all educators and policy makers.
Dr. Patrick Groff, Professor of Education Emeritus, San Diego State University
Media review copies and interviews available on request
Contact: "Fred Baughman, MD" at fredbaughmanmd@cox.net
They should be arrested for practicing medicine without a license.
My information is obviously dated, and I stand corrected. The military probably had to change its rule due to the large number of potential recruits that would be turned down.
There are some fundamental problems with the medical industry and their methods of prescribing drugs. My brother’s 95 pound mother-in-law, 93, has dementia, was booted out of two nursing homes because she was “disruptive” and “dangerous” . . . at 95 pounds.
She was sent to a nursing home with psychiatric treatment capabilities. They put her on anti-psychotic drugs that doped her up and she lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks. When my sister-in-law complained about the damage it was doing to her mother and removed her from that nursing home, a nurse admitted that to collect from the payer, in this case the Federal government, they had to be administering some type of anti-psychotic drug. So the reimbursement rules were dictating her treatment.
There is no telling how much of this type of thing goes on, but I know of a number of elderly who have been over-medicated, my grandmother included This needs to be addressed big time.
I just called the local Marine recruiter. He said that if a person has been off Ritalin since age 12, then it would not likely be a deal-breaker for joining. If you are still on it in high school, that would be a disqualifier.
Teachers are encouraged to label kids as ‘ADHD’ so the school can receive enhanced funding from the feds.
Schools need more arts and activity in the curriculum. Boys in particular need physical challenge as well as mental challenge. If they could run off some energy they’d be better able to sit still through classes.
Yet another illustration of why we need less big government and more small government.
OK, which psychiatric “disease” has a physical component ?
Guess what - those diseases would then be treated by neurologists, not psychiatrists.
No, it doesn’t. The “symptoms” of the ADHD “disease” are simply a list of behaviors that make adults in certain situations uncomfortable.
It is a completely subjective diagnosis.
Agreed, that is why it is interesting to note that this doctor is also selling a book from which this 'teaser' information comes from.
Follow the money - a knife that cuts both ways.
Try hitting a child with a ruler today and see how fast one ends up in a local jail cell and losing every possession owned.
Teachers don’t have to pressure parents in such overt ways; oftentimes they are a bit more roundabout than that. They can (and often do) just cause so much trouble for your kid that it makes you want to do “something” just to get the negative and destructive teacher attention off your kid.
I succumbed - I homeschooled mine. I don’t know who was more relieved - me for not having to put up with the teacher BS or the kid for not having to deal with the problem teachers.
Why don’t you try some facts instead of a smear ? The man is a board certified neurologist, and his arguments should be considered on their scientific merits, not on your illogical unsupported statement.
Being a consultant to an organization that you (and I for that matter) find kooky does not invalidate everything he does.
Rudolph Flesch called it disteachia.
I suppose you believe in the human cause of global warming just because the majority says it exists ?
Your gubmint skrewel taught you well.
single malt usually manages mine just fine ;)
But let a kid give another kid an aspirin or a Mydol and wham....enemy of the state.
Two weeks ago, I put my eleven year old in the car and drove five hundred miles to visit family. He spent the night with my younger sister and her husband... they are both fun, boisterous, and energetic people.
My son became excited and played really hard... and had a difficult time calming down when asked. He had just spent eight hours cooped up in a vehicle! He was happy to spend time with his fun-loving uncle who wrestled, jumped around, made lots of noise and cracked many jokes. Of course my son was excitable and boisterous!
My sister and her husband have no children... but they were quick to pronounce that my son must be ADHD... because he was hyper! Oh, my goodness! They know nothing about raising children and their energy levels. I was really annoyed.
At school, my son fidgets ALL THE TIME. That is because he becomes bored as he absorbs the lessons faster than others. He is highly intelligent and doesn’t need to be spoon-fed the answers. His teacher learned to give him things to do with his hands and to fast-forward him ahead of his class and started teaching him division when the others were still beginning to learn multiplication.
My son is bright, imaginative, happy and a very good student. Should a future teacher complain about his behavior, I will resist all labels and any attempt to hint at a phychological problem or a course of medication. It is my responsibility to guard his health from the ignorance of others.
Why more parents don’t take their children’s health more seriously is beyond me. They are guilty of abuse and neglect should they blindly follow the prescriptions of a 24 year old teacher or school social worker who know nothing about the child.
Interesting article and replies.
Horsecrap. By definition, any identified group of symptoms constitutes a "syndrome", whether it means anything (or even exists) or not. And while it is ridiculously overdiagnosed, ADHD does exist. My wife has it. She takes Strattera, a non-stimulant drug; she used to take Ritalin but it interfered with her already severe heart problems.
Why more parents don’t take their children’s health more seriously is beyond me. They are guilty of abuse and neglect should they blindly follow the prescriptions of a 24 year old teacher or school social worker who know nothing about the child.
My grandson is so smart he scares me. Yet my daughter has allowed him to be poisoned by drugs because the teachers "find him disruptive". He probably belongs in a class for advanced students but of course there are none of those in this school (supposedly an excellent one) because it would make the students not in an advanced class to have injured self esteem.
I have expressed my sorrow for her and her child for the world they will be living in by 2040 or so. She has no idea what I am talking about.
It may exist but more like one case in every ten that is diagnosed. You ignore the totally artificial enviroment of the elementary classroom. Boys are naturally more active than girls; they are taught by women who expect boys to behave like girls. In many schools, even recess has been abolished. This used to let high energy kids—and there are always some girls who fit this description also—throw off the excess energy. Add to this the change in the psychiatric industry, where psycholoanalysis has been abandoned in favor of the new drugs. Clinical depression is something real, but often patients are simply a matter of people who are unhappy and neurotic simply because they feel they ought to be happy all the time and, like being what it really is, they are not. So billions of upper and billions of downers. Many of these hyper kids would be better off have some wine coolers in their lunch than taken the R. medicine.
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