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
Not lazy, just not comprehending. The teachers who like physical activity tend to get along better with boys. That includes some lesbos.
You have an excellent read on your son - he’s a lucky young man.
I appears than the solution to this problem is the only one that seems to work with liberals. Law suits naming the teachers and schools with forcing chemical abuse on the plaintant for the sake of expediency.
If education professionals are as afraid of being sued for this stuff as they are of saying a politically incorrect word or phrase then it will soon promote an environment where they must deal with issues instead of medicate them.
Part of the problem is parents.
They don’t want to control their kids, so when the admin says the kid needs drugs, the parents think it’ll be a great way to control him! Wow, of course - he has a disease!
It’s not only the “victims” that use these bogus diseases as excuses, it’s the parents too. In cases like “ADD” and its fallout. That way they can tell everyone they just couldn’t control their brat because he has a disease.
“fidgety in his seat”
of course! it is not normal for a child to be forced to sit still, especially boys! It is normal for boys to be fidgety! Damn it, what’s wrong with these people?
Usually, kids got “the ruler” at home, too. So teachers hardly had any behavior to even complain about.
Don’t give up on your grandson. You should still try to encourage his mother into finding better solutions for him. You can be an advocate for him. I won’t tell you how to approach your daughter, that isn’t my place. I do believe, however, that you can be a positive influence and you might be able to bring about positive change in his life. I pray that you will find something to help him.
Only government-approved drugs dispensed at government-approved schools by government-approved officials.
You are more right than you can possibly imagine. No staff member of a public school is allowed to legally suggest medication. This is clearly laid out in the IDEIA regulations and is a reason for due process and a legal suit. This is a bread and butter case for special education advocates and special education attorneys.
Since when are advertisements allowed here? This is a pitch for a book (a fraudulent one at that).
Yes, ADHD is probably over-diagnosed and a lot of “oppositional behavior” would respond better to discipline - particularly if caught early on. Nonetheless, stating there are no legit psychiatric diagnoses, ignoring schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the like is so far off base as to be laughable.
If I remember correctly, when I was in grade school, we had two recesses. One was around mid morning and the other was after lunch. Now they are lucky to get one. I bought the documentary “Raising Cain”. It was about teaching boys with ADHD. It was very interesting. Shows how other countries deal with active children.
You're posting the wrong thing to the wrong person on the wrong thread.
Sioux-san and I are having a perfectly rational conversation in agreement, and you walk in and pee in the cheerios. What's yer prob?
A psychiatrist who I recently spoke to mentioned that ADHD was routinely over-diagnosed in children. He said it was like a fad in diagnosis. Parents would complain, doctors would try medications, children would become drugged and “magically” behave more... and parents would then shut up.
He didn’t say that ADHD doesn’t exist. But he did say that he believed teachers and parents were calling for drastic behavioral changes, when none were actually necessary.
I believe parents should take more responsibility and learn about an illness and the medical consequences before approaching a specialist. Education will protect more children from a mis-diagnosis.
“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”
This excuse is frequently used, but more likely the problem is DISCIPLINE - not “disease” or sex. I really don’t like the excuse of “boys will be boys”. Yes, boys might be more active, but that doesn’t excuse obnoxious behavior.
Of course, sometimes the definition of “hyper” has been dumbed-down, too.
“The elephant in the room here is that boys and girls learn in different ways and need different teaching methods.”
I referred to this in another post also. The documentary “Raising Cain” is all about the difference in how boys and girls learn. It was a little Liberal for my tastes, but still full of good information.
That explains it! Good find!
“What we have today is nothing more then the government schools and the NEA unions using behavior modification drugs as an indoctrination tool. The parents of these poor kids are simply not smart enough to see what is going on. I for one would NEVER allow my child to be put on Ritalin or any other similar drug simply to make the teachers job easier.”
Amen, discipline and a change of diet does wonders. Get them off the sugars and off dairy products. It does help.
No he says psychiatric disease does not exist because it has no visible or measurable physical component . And thats BS.
Is there a legal defense for this that parents can use?
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