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

December 6, 2006

URGE THE U.S. SENATE TODAY TO
PROTECT CHILDREN FROM FORCED DRUGGING!
Child Medication Safety Act (HR 1790)

This common sense legislation protects families from being coerced
by schools into administering certain psychotropic medications
to their children in order for them to continue attending school.

HR 1790 has the support of a broad spectrum of groups.

The lame duck Congress will adjourn this Friday, December 8, 2006. Congressional leaders have decided not to pass the remaining federal spending bills, which involved mental health screening issues. Instead, they will pass a "continuing resolution" to fund these programs at current levels until February, when the new majority will have to address the budget.

Without individual spending bills to pass, Congress is working on other legislation. One of the bills they could pass in their last week should be a "no-brainer": The Child Medication Safety Act (CMSA) -- HR 1790. CMSA passed the U.S. House for the second Congress in a row by the overwhelming majority of 407-12 on November of 2005.

A Senate CMSA bill was introduced by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) on September of 2006, right before the election.

This common sense legislation protects families from being coerced by schools into administering certain psychotropic medications to their children in order for them to continue attending school. The drugs addressed in HR 1790 are those on the controlled substances list. They are the Ritalin class of drugs used to treat ADHD, the most common psychiatric label given to children.

Legislation passed in 2004 protected special education students from this same kind of forced drugging. That same year, however, legislation with identical protection for all K-12 students died in the last session of Congress. It fell victim to a blockade by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) at the behest of pharmaceutical and psychiatric groups.

This Child Medication Safety Act, HR 1790, has the support of a broad spectrum of groups. The NAACP (p.22) promoted it as part of its legislative priorities for this Congress that is about to end. A variety of consumer, professional and grassroots political groups all support HR 1790.

         Pediatrician Dr. Karen Effrem presented testimony to Congress on HR 1790. She showed the medical literature demonstrating these medications are overused, ineffective, and have dangerous, if not fatal, side effects. Most importantly, she showed that experts admit that the "disorders" these drugs treat have no scientific basis. Behavior and learning disorders have numerous causes that do not require medication. Children have died from the dangers of these drugs schools have forced on them.

        Since the Effrem testimony was presented, study after study has been released that continues to demonstrate the dangers and lack of effectiveness of these medications. For instance, these studies are from 2006 alone:

The Oregon Drug Effectiveness Review Project, analyzed 2,287 pieces of research -- virtually every investigation ever done on ADHD drugs up to 2006 - to reach its conclusions: it found no evidence to support the claims about their safety, effectiveness, or the legitimacy of the ADHD diagnosis.
The FDA strengthened its warnings on these drugs, finally acknowledging that they cause dependency and addiction, hallucinations, psychosis, and heart problems, including sudden death.
A study of ADHD drugs in preschoolers released by the National Institutes of Mental Health revealed that, "About 40 percent of children developed side effects and roughly 11 percent dropped out because of problems, including irritability, weight loss, insomnia and slowed growth."

ACTION

Please call Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist TODAY.
202-224-3344

** Urge him to place the Child Medication Safety Act (HR 1790) on
the "Unanimous Consent Calendar" (the list of non-controversial bills)
and bring it to a vote this week.

** Urge him to support HR 1790.

Please call your two US Senators TODAY.
** Urge them to support HR 1790.

Talking Points:

The Child Medication Safety Act (HR 1790) is supported by groups from all parts of the political spectrum, from the NAACP to Phyllis Schlaflyís Eagle Forum.
Much new research continues to come forward on the dangers of the Ritalin class of drugs.
Government is now funding mental health screening for children of all ages, leading to increased drugging.
Basic protections for K-12 students have already passed for special education students.
The Child Medication Safety Act (HR 1790) should be passed without a momentís hesitation.

Ask these elected officials whose interests they will support:
Those of parents and children, including minority children,
or those of the psycho-pharmaceutical and education cartel.

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

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