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Letter to English Doctors Warns about Over-medicating Adults with Learning Disability

http://www.rescuepost.com/.a/6a00d8357f3f2969e2016767db0ee2970b-piBy John Stone

In a significant leap of progress a letter has gone out to doctors in England from the National Health Service warning of them about the inappropriate use of psychiatric medications . The letter co-authored by chief pharmacist Keith Ridge estimates that an excess of between 30-35,000 learning disabled adults are being medicated with anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medications as against the average in the general population. The letter is one of a number of official responses to the Winterbourne scandal, in which people with learning disabilities were horrifically maltreated in a private hospital near Bristol.

Age of Autism has frequently highlighted the tragic case of Harry Horne-Roberts (pictured) who died in London in 2009 after having been incompetently medicated with an anti-psychotic drug, without the knowledge of his family. While the letter does not challenge the use psychiatric medications in every case  it does acknowledge that they cause harm – particularly when prescribed on a prolonged basis - and that they have been used as a means of control, rather than because the patient had mental health problems.

The letter obviously stands as warning about the medical abuse of the learning disabled across the globe.

John Stone is UK Editor for Age of Autism.

Comments

John Stone

Thank you Jennie and Keith for staying with this important issue after Harry's untimely death. We can all only go on trying to make our voices heard until this great evil is removed from the planet.

Love to you both,

John

Denise Anderstrom Douglass

Thank you, John Stone.

Margaret

My son does very poorly with medication, which his neurologist and psychopharm refused to acknowledge. We both took the Bostonheart Diagnostics test and both showed serious issues with detoxing. (I don't do all that well with medication either.) It's wonderful to have something in writing. It is a very expensive test, unfortunately, but my insurance paid mostly. It also showed poor nutritional profiles, which shouldn't be the case. With the test I'm getting better and simpler medical care. Everyone with autism should receive a test like this to better manage care.

Jennifer Horne-Roberts and Keith Roberts, parents of our most beloved Harry.

John,

Thank you so much for reporting on this important news from the UK, which represents a sea-change if it is properly observed,in the treatment of SN people. Hopefully the Govts. in the US and worldwide will take note and follow suit.
You are a blood-brother for your unwavering support and reporting on behalf of our injured children.
With our love
Jennie and Keith Horne-Roberts/Roberts, parents of our beautiful and gifted Harry, killed by an overdose of psychotropic drugs prescribed by his psychiatrist in 2009, aged 20.

Patience (Eileen Nicole) Simon

John, this is good news, as was the news from the UK last December that the umbilical cord is no longer to be clamped immediately after birth. Hopefully these advances will be soon be recognized and adopted by medical authorities in the US and worldwide.

My son Conrad died of chlorpromazine toxicity (per the medical examiner's report). I described the horrific, irresponsible, illegal details in the website I setup in his memory, conradsimon.org.

Most outrageous was that staff at his group home had banned me from visiting Conrad. They had a "facilitated communicator" work with Conrad, and she reported that he had been physically and sexually abused by me, his mother.

None of the minimum-wage staff at the group home had completed more than a few college courses. But the psychiatrist raised the dose of Thorazine at the request of staff at the group home. She should have been tried for murder, but she remains a practicing psychiatrist.

Adriana

While it seems that everything is getting worse and going retrograde, it's surprising to see this glimmer of light. Thank you for reporting this.

Benedetta

Mental illness;
Vaccine is the spark and psychiatric medications is the gasoline

Thanks for the report John - things are looking up.

Seonaid

It is indeed 'a significant leap of progress' John! Thank you for this news. For far too long people with learning difficulties and autism spectrum disorders have been subjected mindlessly to psychiatric abuse. It's outrageous what has been happening to these individuals trapped within the mental health system, and very little has been done to alert and educate the perpetrators. Ritalin, SSRIs, antipsychotics and benzodiazepines are all causing damage or even death to these 'service users', children and adults.
Surely Scotland must follow suit!?
RIP Harry x

Linda1

I have no patience for the game being played - of pussy footing around the barbaric exploitation and murderous abuse of the weak, enabled and protected by professional licensure. There are no adequate words to describe how disgusting this is.

Grace Green

When I tried to get a diagnosis of ASD from a trainee spychiatrist her report threatened to put me on antipsychotics although she gave no diagnosis of psychosis. Her excuse might have been "challenging behaviour" but it was actually an attempt to silence me in my dispute with the medical profession along the lines of that conducted by many parents of autistic children. The fact is that when you are an autistic adult you don't have anyone to stick up for you.

Christine MacVicar

Notice that there has been no corresponding concerns in Scotland.
England also has new legislation regarding the offence of wilful neglect and ill- treatment.

jen

Great news, thanks for the update, John.

Angus Files

Poor Harry, he should still be with us now rest in peace Harry never forgotten ,and the great artist he was and his drawings live on.


MMR RIP

John Stone

Good morning Bob,

Very interesting debate at London's Maudsley Hospital in May: "
This house believes that the long term use of psychiatric medications is causing more harm than good". While I am not particulary (associated with Rutter, Wessely and Goldacre) keen on the Maudsley as an institution this was a valuable event wich keeps the discussion on the table.

http://chrysmuirheadwrites.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/video-of-52nd-maudsley-debate-more-harm.html

What also trouble me is the position of the less articulate when trying detect the effects of psychiatric medication on their well-being, though the the articulate are treated ruthlessly anyway.

Bob Moffitt

John

In the US we are experiencing a rising number of "mass killings" .. in theatres, on university campuses, military bases .. and .. in every instance we are informed of the type of gun used and how the gun was obtained. The actual motives of killers are heavily debated .. hate crime or terrorism.

Unfortunately .. the most common element of .. not all .. but .. far more than a few .. of these shootings is the discovery the perpetrator had obvious mental health problems and either was recently prescribed "psychiatric medications" .. or .. they had been prescribed in the pass.

What we are never told .. unlike the gun used .. is the NAME OF THOSE PRESCIPTIONS.

Reliable reports ("60 Minutes) state that "22 retired and active members of the US military commit suicide EVERY DAY"

As usual .. we are never told how many of those poor souls had been prescribed psychiatric medications .. but .. I think that number would apply to 3/4's at least.

Still waiting for a "letter from HHS, CDC .. ANY PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY .. warning about the "inappropriate use" of psychiatric medications in the US.

Good luck with that .. as I suspect prescribing psychiatric medications is the ONLY "mental health treatment" in the USA today.

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