Posted by stan_the_man70 on February 28, 2015, at 9:59:04
In reply to Re: sales of psychotropic drugs » stan_the_man70, posted by Robert_Burton_1621 on February 27, 2015, at 15:00:17
------------quote reference
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/17/psychotropic-drug-abuse-in-foster-care-costs-government-billions/
-------------------quote referenceThese are just snippets of the entire article. But it is really alarming. I mean it is about children in foster care. Not sure what the true picture is. But the ending of the article is poignant?
----------snippets
According to a number of foster care experts who spoke with Politics Daily, children in foster care, who are typically concurrently enrolled in Medicaid, are three or four more times as likely to be on psychotropic medications than other children on Medicaid. Alarmingly, many of these drugs are medically prohibited for minors and dangerous to the children taking them. Often young patients under state supervision are also prescribed three or four high-risk drugs at a time -- all paid for by Medicaid.State foster care programs and child protective services have had mixed success addressing the pervasiveness of dosing their clients with prescription psychotropic drugs. Using federal Medicaid money to purchase dangerous prohibited prescriptions for children, which cost the government up to $600 per dose, is technically a violation of the law.
Statistics on psychotropic drugs in foster care have until now come out in scattered reports, mostly from investigations of foster care failures by individual states. For example, in 2003 a Florida Statewide Advocacy Council study found that 55 percent of Florida's foster children were being administered psychotropic medications. Forty percent of them had no record of a psychiatric evaluation. Another Florida report also indicated anti-psychotic medication use increased an astonishing 528 percent from 2000 to 2005.
A Texas state study in 2004 revealed that 34.7 percent of Texas foster children were prescribed at least one anti-psychotic drug -- and 174 children aged 6-12 in the care of the state were taking five or more psychotropic medications at once.
Last April, an investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution exposed several companies operating foster care homes in Georgia repeatedly used anti-psychotic medications to "subdue" children in their care. Despite being cited repeatedly, none of the agencies were fined more than $500.
How to Fix It
"Having a drug to take the edge off the pain and fear and sadness saved my life a time or two, but it's not a lifestyle." said Misty Stenslie, a former foster child who is currently the deputy director of Foster Care Alumni of America. Children under the protection of government agencies deserve the assurance of safe and decent health care. Especially, as Stenslie points out, "We can't give kids what they really need, and that's a family and love."
poster:stan_the_man70
thread:1076926
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150223/msgs/1077201.html