For Immediate Release
November 3, 2000
Press Release
Texas State Board of Education Passes Resolution on Psychiatric Drugs in
the Schools
Board Members Express Serious Concern About the Overuse of Psychiatric
Drugs Such as Ritalin on School Children
Austin, Texas – The Texas State Board of Education passed a resolution
expressing serious concern about the tremendous growth in use of psychiatric
drugs among school children. They made their decision after hearing a full
day of testimony from medical professionals from across the nation about the
increasing problem of overprescription of Ritalin and other psychiatric
drugs to children.
Included among the speakers were Dr. William Carey, author of the book,
Coping with Children’s Temperament, and Professor of Pediatrics at
University of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine, and Clinical Director of
Behavioral Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; John
Breeding, PhD, a psychologist in private practice in Austin, Texas, Director
of Texans For Safe Education, and author of the book, The Wildest Colts Make
the Best Horses; Fred Baughman, MD, one of our country’s eminent
neurologists, whose video documentary “ADHD Is a Complete and 100% Fraud” is
educating parents nationwide about the dangers of using psychiatric drugs on
children; and Gretchen Feussner, a pharmacologist with theh US Drug
Enforcement Administration, author of the 1998 DEA report entitled,
“Diversion, Trafficking, and Abuse of Methylphenidate [Ritalin].
Dr. Breeding said, “I applaud the Texas State Board of Education for this
courageous statement against overdrugging our children. That we are
resorting to psychiatric drugs to control millions of our children is in no
way a solution to declining literacy, high dropout rates, or problems with
school discipline. It is as if we are scapegoating the brains of our
children as a way to divert attention from the need for courageously
handling the challenges of education in today’s world.”
Dr. Baughman said, “The parents of the nation, trusting their physicians,
have been deceived. Educators and psychologists have been deceived and have
heeded the cry from psychiatry in league with the pharmaceutical industry,
exhorting them to hasten the psychiatric labeling and drugging of children.”
Dr. Carey said, “Congratulations to the Texas State Board of Education for
responding to the real needs of the children of Texas. My experience is that
many outspoken physicians do not understand and acknowledge the gravity of
the present situation. I hope that similar actions will be taken by state
boards of education across the nation.”
Testimony presented to the Board indicated that up to 1,000,000 school-age
children in Texas, possibly 15% of the state’s school children, are
now taking psychiatric drugs. Gretchen Fuessner from the DEA showed the
Board members that in some surveys, up to 20% of children admitted to
recreational abuse of their prescriptions of stimulant drugs for ADHD. She
warned the Board members that high school and middle school children are
increasingly abusing the stimulant drugs, which are considered controlled
substances by the DEA due to their highly addictive properties.
The Board’s resolution stated in part that their decision was due to
a 1998 National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference report on the
subject of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This report
stated that, “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.” It went on
to say that, stimulant drugs such as methylphenidate (Ritalin) result in
“little improvement in academic or social skills.” With up to 1 million
school aged children in Texas now taking psychiatric drugs for this and
similar psychiatric labels, the Board expressed its concern, and resolved to
“encourage school personnel to use proven academic and/or management
solutions to resolve behavior, attention, and learning difficulties.” Due to
the abuse of stimulant drugs by school children, the Board further resolved
to “recommend that each school district implement a special policy with
regard to storing and distribution of psychoactive drugs.”
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