Fred A. Baughman, Jr., MD
Adult and Child Neurology
Fellow American Academy of
Neurology
1303 Hidden Mountain Drive
El Cajon, CA 92019
Federal
Trade Commission-FTC
Consumer
Response Center
June 23, 2003
600
Pennsylvania Ave., NW Room H130
Washington,
DC 20580
Attention: Louise, Don in Consumer Response Center (to
whom I gave phone complaint)
Regarding:
Deception/Fraud in the sales of drugs for so-called ADHD against Novartis
(complaint #31256612) Shire (#3125742), GlaxoSmithKline ( (#3125799) McNeil
(#3125814) and Lilly (#3125825)
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
I
rendered my oral/telephone testimony regarding these five complaints earlier
this afternoon. In doing so I failed to
emphasize the incomparable role of Children and Adults with Attention Deficit
Disorders-CHADD, in deceiving the US public regarding the true nature of
so-called ADHD
In
the June 18, 2003, press release from Children and Adults with Attention
Deficit Disorders (CHADD), they call ADHD a “neurobiological disorder,” by
which, make no mistake, they mean an abnormality of the biology of the brain—a
disease. This has been the essence of
their message to the US public, patients, and parents, from the time of their
founding, by Ciba/Novartis, for Ciba/Novartis, and now, and since their
founding in 1987, for all pharmaceutical companies (Shire, GlaxoSmithKline,
McNeil and Lilly) that market drugs for so-called ADHD. This claim is an
outright lie, by which to sell drugs, not science at all. CHADD is to be considered a marketing arm of
each, for the marketing of their respective drugs for ADHD. All of them contribute heavily and
consistently to the support and operation of CHADD. This is why, the FTC must, at long last, intervene, for the
well-being of the consumer public of the US
The
definition of minimal brain damage/dysfunction (MBD—a forerunner of
ADD/ADHD)/attention deficit disorder (ADD)/attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD), has been regularly changed since the 1960s when it was known
as “hyperactive child syndrome.” It was
made ADD for the 1980 DSM-III; ADHD for the 1987, DSM-III-R, and another
variant of ADHD for the 1994, DSM-IV.
All are called brain diseases throughout the psychiatry/mental health
industry without a shred of scientific proof or a test by which to demonstrate
an objective abnormality, person-by-person, for any single diagnosis. Using the lie—the representation of ADHD to
be a disease–normal children
diseased–the manufactured epidemic (of a manufactured disease) has
reached an astounding, despicable, 6 million.
At
the November 16-18, 1998, ADHD Consensus Conference, William B. Carey, MD, of
the University of Pennsylvania, reporting on “Is ADHD a Valid Disorder?” and
concluded:
“What is…described as ADHD in the United States
appears to be a set of normal behavioral variations…”
My invited testimony to the
Consensus Conference, 11/17/98 was:
Without an iota of proof or
credible science, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has proclaimed
the behaviors of ADHD a “disease,” and the children “brain-diseased,”
“abnormal.” CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorders),
35,000-strong, funded by Ciba-Geigy,
manufacturer of Ritalin, has spread the “neuro-biological” lie. The US Department of Education, absolving
itself of controlling the children and rendering them literate, coerces the
labeling and drugging…ADHD is a total, 100% fraud.”
No evidence having been
presented to support a claim of abnormality/disease, the final statement of
Consensus Conference Panel [17], November 18, 1998, was:
“ …we do not have an independent, valid
test for ADHD, and there are no data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain
malfunction.”
There
may be believers in ADHD (and other psychiatric “diseases”/ “chemical imbalances”),
even in the Congress and the Senate, but beliefs are no substitute for medical
science. It is never permissible to
tell parents that their normal children are abnormal/diseased without having
demonstrated, objectively, an abnormality/disease. To knowingly do so is to violate their right to informed consent,
which itself, is medical malpractice.
To then, knowingly drug or otherwise, medically “treat” the normal
child/patient is assault and battery—poisoning.
Recently,
Kelly Patrick O’Meara, interviewed CHADD, CEO, E. Clarke Ross [Insight
Magazine, May 13-26, 2003, p 38), and wrote:
“Despite the fact that documents provided on
CHADD’s Website declare that ADHD not only is a “neurobiological”
disorder but also a “neurological” disorder; the bottom line
apparently has little to do with science. As Ross (E. Clarke Ross, CEO,
CHADD) states, it” is a matter of belief.” And that is precisely what opponents of the alleged disorder have
been saying for years–that psychiatric diagnoses are subjective opinions
unallied by science.”
Here,
with 6 million (at least) “diagnosed” and “treated,” the CEO of the leading
ADHD advocacy (and “sales”) group in
the world, telling us ADHD “is a matter of belief.” CHADD assumed for itself the duty to articulate the truth and
science regarding ADHD, but this is exactly what they have not done.
Instead CHADD has lied to the parents, patients and the public throughout it’s
existence, since the late 1980′s, and has lied, as well, to the Congress and to
every state legislature, and the judiciary, stating, in effect, that ADHD is a
disorder/disease when, all along, all at CHADD (including all on their
professional advisory board, “scientists” from the NIMH included) knew there
was never any such proof—that the children labeled and drugged were
NORMAL—normal, that is, until the drugging began.
There
is no evidence today that ADHD is an abnormality/disease, much less a
diagnosable one. It is time that the
FTC and other agents and agencies of the US federal government that have “gone
along” with this massive deception and victimization of US youth, and of the
public as a whole, required proof, or called a halt to all such representations
of ADHD and all psychiatric conditions as diseases/chemical imbalances.
There
are clear financial reasons why CHADD’s ADHD-as-a-disease lie is supported by unrestricted
grants from Eli Lilly and Company, L.P., McNeil Consumer & Specialty
Pharmaceuticals, and Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp. These are clear reasons why
CHADD’s ADHD-as-a-disease lie has been joined by the American Association of
School Administrators, American Psychiatric Association, Child & Adolescent
Bipolar Foundation, Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders, Learning
Disabilities Association of America, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill,
National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Social
Workers, National Center for Learning Disabilities, National Mental Health Association,
National Recreation and Park Association, School Social Work Association of
America, and the Tourette Syndrome Association, Inc. ,and others, to numerous
to mention here.
To
a number, their members make their livings “diagnosing” and “treating” the
millions of children labeled ADHD who were normal when diagnosed, and who’s
first and only abnormality was the first, mandatory drugs, usually an addictive
dangerous, sometimes deadly Schedule II stimulant, with which each was
inititated into a life-in-perpetuity as a psychiatric patient.
Finally, please
consider the following, a decision on the lack of scientific validity of ADHD
from the Netherlands Advertisement Code Commission, August 11, 2002:
DUTCH COMMISSION FINDS PSYCHIATRIC CLAIM IS FALSE -- ADHD IS NOT A BRAIN DISORDER - The Netherlands Advertisement Code Commission (Reclame Code Commissie) has ruled that the country's Brain Foundation cannot claim that the controversial psychiatric condition Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurobiological disease or brain dysfunction. The Commission ordered the Foundation to cease such false claims in their advertising…In its decision handed down on August 6th, the Advertisement Code Commission found that the Brain Foundation had falsely advertised and solicited funding by publishing ads in newspapers, magazines, flyers and on TV that stated ADHD is an "inherent brain dysfunction." The Advertisement Code Commission decision stated, "The information that the defendant presented gives no grounds for the definitive statement that ADHD is an inherent brain dysfunction.. Under the circumstances, the defendant has not been careful enough and the advertisement is misleading."
And, make no mistake, it is not science, and it is not medicine, in any legitimate sense of the word—it is advertising. The ADHD fraud, and with it the drugging of millions of entirely normal American children, must be acknowledged, and brought to an end.
Sincerely yours,
Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD
CC
1. Attorney General John Ashcroft
2. Director FDA
3. Director DEA
4. President INCB
5. President, American Academy of Neurology
6. President, American Psychiatric Association
7. President American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
8. President, American Academy of Pediatrics
9. President, Child Neurology Society
10. Congressman Max Burns
11. Congressman Patrick Kennedy
12. Congressman Dan Burton
13. Congressman Duncan Hunter
Enclosures.
1. Letter to Attorney General, Janet Reno, 4/15/98
2. Letter to Sandra Olson, President American Academy of Neurology, 5/25/03
3. Letter to E. Clarke Ross, CEO, CHADD, 5/27/03
4. Testimony to Committee on Education and the Workforce, hearing entitled “Behavioral Drugs in Schools: Questions and Concerns,” September 29, 2000