[]  
105 Peavey Road, Suite 116   Chaska, MN 55318 
952-361-4931        http://edaction.org

November 10, 2006


Urgent Action Alert
"No" to money for Infant Mental Health Testing
in Lame Duck Congress

The "Lame Duck" Congress convenes Monday, November 13th to finish its work. 
"Lame Duck" is a session that meets after the elections,
but before the newly elected Congress takes over in January.

        The media has stepped up its propaganda promoting "infant mental health" just prior to upcoming votes in the "lame duck" Congress to fund universal psychological testing of babies, preschoolers and K-12 students, including dangerous drugging to treat them. Please re-read last June's EdWatch summary of those funding proposals and recommendations for cuts: " Federal Funding for Universal Mental Health Screening."

        For example, an ABC News article brazenly headlines, " One in 40 Infants Experience Baby Blues, Doctors Say."  Please vote in the on-line poll: Prozac for Depressed Babies? The current tallies are 3, 700 opposed, and 112 in support! Join the opposition!

        The Wall Street Journal joined in with an article on October 24, 2006: "Sending the Baby to a Shrink" (subscription only), and subtitled:  "Expanding Field of Infant Mental Health Aims To Head Off Depression and Other Disorders." It states:
"By starting treatment as soon as possible - even before their patients are out of diapers - doctors feel they are helping kids become better adjusted."
        Dr. Karen Effrem's letter to the editor response to the WSJ article is copied below. Excerpt:
"The 2000 study by Zito that found a 300% increase in the rates of psychotropic drug use of two to four year old children between 1991 and 1995, also showed three thousand prescriptions for the antidepressant Prozac in infants less than one year old.  Four to ten million children are on psychostimlants like Ritalin."
         Now it the time to take action. The election sent a powerful message against this Congress' uncontrolled spending and massive expansion of government. Federal grants for universal mental health screening programs are driving state policy all over the country. State legislatures are snapping up federal dollars for state universal mental health screening programs, frequently leaving elected legislators in the dark about what they are voting for. (See " Indiana Citizens Revolt.")

         We don't know yet what Congress plans for voting when they convene, beginning Monday, November 13th.  Regardless of the action they take, members need to hear from their constituents.

        Tell them: Federal funding for state mental heath testing programs should be cut. Federal central planners should not be hooking states on dangerous and invasive mental health policies for students, children and even infants using our tax dollars for bait. Tell your members of Congress to cut or eliminate the following:          Click here for details of these programs. On August 22, 2006, a coalition of national groups signed a Letter to President Bush on mental health screening written by Dr. Effrem that explains the growing opposition to these federal programs.

         CONTACT YOUR U.S. MEMBER OF CONGRESS TODAY!
 Click here

CONTACT YOUR U.S. SENATOR
 Click here
October 27, 2006
Wall Street Journal
To the Editor,

Elizabeth Bernsteins October 24th article that uncritically promoted the concept of infant mental health is deeply disturbing for several reasons.
 
First, agreement on valid diagnostic criteria for infant mental health is nowhere near the level portrayed in the article. Dr. Benedetto Vitiello, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at the National Institutes of Mental Health has admitted the diagnostic uncertainty surrounding most manifestations of psychopathology in early childhood. 

The National Center for Infant and Early Childhood Health Policy said in a 2005 paper, Diagnostic [mental health] classifications for infancy are still being developed and validated
 
Secondly, and very dangerously, this article will be used as an excuse to expand state and federal universal mental health screening programs based on these unscientific criteria that have arisen as a result of the Presidents New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.  The State Early Childhood Comprehensive System is funded through the Maternal Child Health Block Grant in 48 states. 

This program is described in Minnesota documents as a federally-funded grant project to coordinate and integrate early childhood screening systems to assure that all children ages birth to five are screened early and continuously for the presence of health, socioemotional [mental health] or developmental needs.  Both Indiana and Illinois have passed laws and are implementing plans for the mental health screening of all children birth to age twenty-one based on these federal reports and programs.
 
Thirdly, articles like this will further fuel the already alarmingly high and medically unjustifiable rates of psychotropic drug use in young children.  The 2000 study by Zito that found a 300% increase in the rates of psychotropic drug use of two to four year old children between 1991 and 1995, also showed three thousand prescriptions for the antidepressant Prozac in infants less than one year old.  Four to ten million children are on psychostimlants like Ritalin. 

A government study released this month found serious side effects in 40 percent of preschoolers studied and another 10 percent dropped out due to intolerable side effects.  Two-and-a-half million children are on antipsychotic drugs that are not FDA approved for use in children, except for Risperidal, which was just approved as a chemical straitjacket for autistic children with irritating behavior without a single public hearing. 

These antipsychotic drugs, associated with a shortened lifespan, have caused at least forty-five deaths in children, the youngest being four years old, and the FDA admits that 45 may only represent one to ten percent of the total. 
 
Finally, according to many of the same experts cited above, as well as numerous other independent studies, there is no evidence of long-term safety or effectiveness of either drug or non-drug therapy in these young children.  These experts cannot even agree on outcomes saying, Broad parameters for determining socioemotional outcomes are not clearly defined.
 
A broad and growing coalition of national groups, including The Alliance for Human Research Protection, EdWatch, ICSPP, and the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has formed to speak out against this scientific and ethical outrage being perpetrated against our children by the psychopharmaceutical establishment. 

One would hope psychiatry, government, and the Journal would listen and do no harm.

Sincerely,
Dr. Karen Effrem
EdAction is entirely user-supported. The continuation of our work is dependent upon individual contributors. EdAction is a political action committee. Contributions are not tax deductible. We promote the work of EdWatch. If you want to ensure that our work continues, contact us here. If you want to subscribe or unsubscribe to this EdAction e-mail service, mail to: edaction@lakes.com. Put "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the SUBJECT of the message.