Federal Judge Tosses Class-Action Lawsuit Over ADHD, Ritalin
SAN DIEGO, April 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A federal judge in California has dismissed a class-action lawsuit claiming that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) conspired with others to improperly broaden the diagnosis of Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). The judge also ruled that the plaintiffs must pay the legal fees of the defendants, including the APA
[Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD:
sounds like the judge was overly-friendly with pro-psychiatry,
pro-drugging forces. Owned by, perhaps? It appears that Judge Brewster did
nothing at all to determine whether or not ADHD is a bona fide disease or not;
nothing at all to meet the Daubert requirement that he seek and find the
scientific answer to the question: "Is ADHD a disease or not having a
demonstrable, diagnosable, confirmatory physical or chemical abnormality?"
With 6 million US children said to have it, required, increasingly, by federal
policy, to take addictive, dangerous, sometimes death-dealing, Schedule-II,
amphetamines, there is a reason that the best science, not junk science,
should rule, as decreed in the 1993, Supreme Court, Daubert decision.]
In a ruling announced April 26, Senior U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster dismissed the case with prejudice, which prohibits it from being refiled. The judge ruled that the plaintiffs' complaint was without any legal basis, and that activities by defendants to advance the medical understanding, diagnosis and treatment of ADHD were free speech protected under California's anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) statute
[Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD:
What, if anything, did Judge Brewster do to confirm that ADHD has
ever been validated, in the scientific record, as a disease, having a
confirmatory, demonstrable, diagnosable, physical or chemical abnormality. He
Could not have done anything to uphold the standard demanded by the 1993,
Supreme Court, Daubert decision, for there has never been such confirmation;
to this day claims that ADHD is a disease are without a scientific basis, and
are fraudulent]
. "This is a victory for the scientific process, for sound medicine and for a free and open discussion of medical issues," said Dr. Daniel Borenstein, a clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA and president of the American Psychiatric Association. "More importantly, it is a victory for parents whowant to act in the best interest of their children by seeking appropriate treatment for a common disorder."
[Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD:
ADHD has never been proved to be a bona fide disease having a confirming,
demonstrable, diagnosable, physical or chemical abnormality. It is not a
disease. There is no abnormality within anyone said to have it needing
'treatment' to make the person normal, again, or, more nearly normal. On
November 18, 1998, the final statement of the Panel of the National Institutes
of Health, Consensus Conference on ADHD read (p.3, lines 10-13): "
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."]
"This was a frivolous lawsuit," added Dr. Steven M. Mirin, medical director for the APA, based in Washington, D.C. "ADHD is a real disorder with potentially serious consequences. It deserves professional diagnosis and treatment. This verdict will reassure parents who are seeking to do the right thing for their children with ADHD or other mental disorders."
[Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD:
By
'disorder', those in the APA and throughout psychiatry mean 'disease',
meaning/implying that a physical or chemical abnormality exists within the
person/patient. So stating, or implying, they violate the informed consent
rights of the person/patient, which hold that they are due full an honest
'disclosure' which would include all there is to know about the nature of the
condition diagnosed, specifically, whether it is a physical or chemical
abnormality/a disease, or not.]
The California lawsuit and similar suits filed in federal courts in Texas, Florida and New Jersey claimed that APA had conspired with a patient support group, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), and a pharmaceutical company, Novartis, to invent or exaggerate ADHD as a disorder. APA was specifically accused of improperly broadening the clinical diagnosis of ADHD in its authoritative Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. "These claims were frivolous and we are pleased that the judge recognized their complete lack of merit," said Mirin. "The existence of ADHD is based on a mountain of widely accepted scientific evidence accumulated over decades of research, as well as clinical experience from treating - and helping - millions of children."
[Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD:
It does not take a mountain of evidence
to prove the existence of a disease, it only take objective evidence of the
presence of a single physical or chemical abnormality, and no such
confirmatory abnormality has ever been adduced/demonstrated/diagnosed by a
single physician in a single patient, anywhere. To represent or imply that
ADHD is a disease, as members of the APA continue to do in their interviews
for this article, is, like all representations that ADHD is a disease--a
fraud]
California and several other states, including Washington and New York, have anti-SLAPP statutes, intended to protect individuals and organizations from lawsuits aimed at discouraging constitutionally protected free speech. Under the California law, if a judge does not find that a SLAPP lawsuit has a probability of winning, it must be dismissed, and the SLAPP target is entitled to legal defense costs.
[Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD:
How can the claims and inferences that
ADHD is a disease/disorder; that persons/children with it are abnormal and in
need of medical treatment be protected as free speech under the constitution
when such claims cannot be validated scientifically and, constitute, a
violation of informed consent to all individual patients, and to the public as
a whole?]
In the California lawsuit involving ADHD, Judge Brewster had ruled March 8 that he would dismiss the suit unless the plaintiffs amended their complaint to state a legally viable claim - which they did not. Specifically, the judge ruled that: -- APA and the other defendants in the suit "have met their burden of showing that the anti-SLAPP statute applies, because the speech at issue is clearly speech protected under the United States and California Constitutions in connection with a public issue."
[Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD:
Their claims to the
public as to the nature of ADHD and most psychiatric disorders (claiming they
are 'biologically-based,' 'neuro-behavioral,' 'neuro-biological,' when no
proof exists that they are neurological, biological, or, organic, in the
least, are in violation of California, Senate Bill 836, Figueroa]
-- The plaintiffs "failed to show misrepresentation of any material facts, by whom any misrepresentations were made, when any misrepresentations were made, and where any misrepresentations were made." -- The complaint "fails to state a cause of action because of a number of defects, including the absence of any allegations of causation, actionable complaint or damage." Mirin said he hoped the California ruling would "send a message" to the plaintiffs in the other lawsuits, which all make similar allegations. "These claims are part of an anti-science, anti-medicine agenda, and we are pleased that they have been rejected so decisively in California," he said.
[Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD:
In December, 1994, Pearlman [11], himself a psychiatrist, wrote:
“I take issue with Pincus (for the APA) assertion that elimination of the term
“organic” in the DSM-IV has served a useful purpose for psychiatry
elimination
of the term “organic” conveys the impression that psychiatry wishes to conceal
the nonorganic character of many behavioral problems
” ADHD is routinely
claimed by adult and child psychiatry, their leaders and practicing members, and
by CHADD to be a ‘disorder’/'disease’ due to a chemical abnormality within the
brain/body of the child/person/patient, needing/requiring
medical/pharmacological treatment. As such they abrogate the informed consent
rights of the public individually and collectively and ‘conceal (in Pearlman’s
words) the nonorganic character of many behavioral problems.’ Where did the
defendants in this case find a judge so dedicated to protecting/defending them?
Where are the children of the nation to find a court to defend them from the
heinous labeling and drugging being done them as never before in the history of
the world in the name of medical treatment; in the name of ‘help’? ]
----- Background from APA ADHD is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder of childhood. It affects an estimated 3 to 5 percent of school-age children, 75 percent of them boys. An accurate diagnosis requires a thorough evaluation of the child's developmental, social, academic, family and medical history. Medication should be used as part of a comprehensive treatment plan that also includes psychotherapy, behavioral treatment, and community-based support of teachers and guidance counselors. The American Psychiatric Association, based in Washington, D.C., was founded in 1844 and is the nation's oldest medical society. It has more than 38,000 members around the world who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional illnesses and substance use disorders. An integral part of APA's mission is the publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. First published in 1952 and periodically revised, the manual provides comprehensive descriptions and classifications of mental disorders. Its diagnostic criteria have been extensively tested for validity and reliability in field trials supported by the National Institute of Mental Health. The manual also reflects the participation of numerous international health organizations, including the World Health Organization, prominent medical and scientific associations (including the AMA and the National Academy of Sciences), and public and private universities. For more information on the APA and ADHD, visit www.psych.org.