home / subscribe / donate / about us / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events
|
|
|
Democrats on the Brink: Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair; Innocent Lads, Depraved Killers and Predatory Priests by JoAnn Wypijewski; Torture Air, Inc.: the Road to Rendition: by Jeffrey St. Clair. Remember these stories are available exclusively in the print edition of CounterPunch. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
|
Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison by KATHY KELLY  Today's Stories March 12 / 13, 2005 David H. Price
March 11, 2005 Jerry Fresia Ron Jacobs Dave Lindorff William James
Martin Muqtedar Khan Kathryn Ledebur Mike Whitney Dave Zirin Website of the Day
March 10, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts John Marc Leas, Colleen McLaughlin
and Ashley Smith Larry Birns Michael Donnelly Luis Gomez Jackie Corr Uri Avnery Website of the Day
March 9, 2005 Jeffrey St.
Clair Ward Churchill Robert Fisk Bernice Powell Jackson Mickey Z. Dave Zirin Michael Donnelly James Reiss Vijay Prashad
March 8, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Robert Fisk Kurt Nimmo Suzan Mazur Evelyn Pringle Giuliana Sgrena Elaine Cassel
March 7, 2005 Dave Zirin Brian Cloughley John Chuckman Mike Whitney Mark Weisbrot Fred Gardner Richard Neville Uri Avnery
March 5 / 6, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs Tom Reeves Jenna Orkin Tom Barry Joshua Frank Moshe Adler Jane Stillwater Omar Barghouti / Jacqueline
Sfeir Christopher
Brauchli John Pilger Raúl
Zibechi David Krieger Three Takes on Nepal Surendra R. Devkota Bhishma Karki Joseph Pietri Ben Tripp Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
March 4, 2005 Frederick Hudson
March 3, 2005 Pat Williams Brian Cloughley Dave Lindorff Amira Hass Greg Moses Lynne Landes Nelson P. Valdés John Ross
March 2, 2005 Saul Landau
/ Farrah Hassen Mike Roselle M. Junaid Alam Suzan Mazur Jackson Thoreau Michael Donnelly Jeffrey St.
Clair Website of the Day
March 1, 2005 Scott Richard
Lyons David Lindorff Patrick Cockburn
/ David Enders Ron Jacobs Tanya Garcia Joseph Pietri Kona Lowell Paul Craig
Roberts Website of
the Day
February 28, 2005 Gary Leupp Bill Quigley Paul de Rooij David Swanson Mario Lamo
Jimenez Emma Perez Diana Johnstone Website of the Day
February 26 / 27, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Noam Chomsky Rev. William E. Alberts Fred Gardner Gary Leupp Saul Landau Robin Philpot Yitkhak Laor Ben Tripp Justin Taylor Jack Random Rafael Renteria Jim B. Seth DeLong John Chuckman Alison Weir Richard Oxman Dr. Susan Block Poets' Basement
February 25, 2005 Roger Burbach Behzad Yaghmaian Kurt Nimmo Joshua Frank John Farley Lawrence Reichard Pratyush Chandra David Smith-Ferri Website of
the Day
February 24, 2005 Omar Waraich Brian Cloughley Tom Wright Sharon Smith Dave Lindorff Fred Feldman James Reiss
Diane Christian Website of
the Day
February 23, 2005 Werther W. John Green James Petras Conn Hallinan Joe Pietri Louis Proyect Alexander Cockburn Website of
the Day
February 22, 2005 Naseer Aruri Richard Manning William A.
Cook Paul Craig Roberts Ken Krayeske Dave Zirin Kirkpatrick
Sale
February 21, 2005 Hunter S. Thompson John Ross Ward Churchill Dr. Teresa
Whitehurst David Swanson Dave Lindorff Stew Albert Michael Neumann
February 19 / 20, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Kathleen Christison Ted Honderich Gary Leupp Don Santina Jennifer Roesch Scott Richard
Lyons Chris Clarke George Beres Harry Browne Manuel Garc'a,
Jr. Mark Scaramella Michael Donnelly John Pilger Norman Madarasz Surendra Devkota Deborah Rich Fred Gardner CounterPunch
News Service Richard Oxman Poets' Basement
February 18, 2005 Ben Moxham Dave Lindorff Larry Birns Gregory Elich Samuel Logan / John Meyers Nicole Colson Suzan Mazur Mickey Z.
February 17, 2005 Joshua Frank Paul Craig
Roberts Robert Fisk Christopher
Brauchli Dr. Teresa
Whitehurst Alison Weir Ahrar Ahmad Saul Landau Website of the Day
February 16, 2005 Robert Fisk Kevin Zeese Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs Jessica Leight Greg Moses Mark Engler Jack McCarthy Bill Christison Website of the Day
February 15, 2005 CounterPunch
News Service Robert Fisk Uri Avnery Stan Cox Mickey Z. Dave Zirin Nadia Martinez Lila Rajiva Paul Craig
Roberts
February 14, 2005 Robert Jensen Brian Cloughley Patrick Cockburn Gary Leupp Michael Donnelly Dave Lindorff Elaine Cassel
February 12 / 13, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Saul Landau Paul Craig
Roberts Patrick Cockburn John Feffer Mickey Z. Kurt Nimmo Fred Gardner Dave Zirin John Chuckman Ben Tripp Carol Norris Robert Fisk Frank / Chowkwanyun Mike Whitney Deborah Frisch Niranjan Ramakrishnan Christine TenBarge Ron Jacobs Dr. Susan Block Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
February 11, 20055 Manuel Garcia,
Jr Kurt Nimmo Dave Lindorff Larry Birns Bill Quigley Tom Barry Jennifer Van
Bergen
February 10, 2005 Dave Lindorff Christopher Brauchli Patrick Cockburn Nicole Colson Suzan Mazur Michael Donnelly Mike Stark Greg Moses Website of
the Day
February 9, 2005 Jeffrey St.
Clair Mickey Z. John Ross Tom Barry Conn Hallinan Patrick Cockburn Steen Sohn Tim Wise Website of
the Day
February 8, 2005 Patrick Cockburn Brian Cloughley Steve Breyman Harry Browne Doug Giebel Nate Collins Dave Lindorff David Smith-Ferri
February 7, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Carolyn Baker Joshua Frank Mickey Z. Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Stacie Jonas Dave Zirin Tariq Ali
February 5 / 6, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Kurt Nimmo Joshua Frank P. Sainath Patrick Cockburn Laura Carlsen Dave Lindorff Pamela Olson Behzad Yaghmaian Saul Landau / Farrah Hassen Roger Burbach Robert Fisk David Swanson Justin E.H. Smith Cacie Hart Ron Jacobs Mickey Z. Ben Tripp Ben Sonnenberg Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
February 4, 2005 Brian Cloughley Bill Christison Elaine Cassel Jacob Levich Kanak Mani Dixit Ron Jacobs
February 3, 2005 Ward Churchill Sharon Smith Mickey Z. Mike Whitney Jenna Orkin Saul Landau Yitzhak Laor Dave Lindorff
February 2, 2005 David Domke
/ Kevin Coe Noam Chomsky M. Shahid Alam Richard Oxman Joshua Frank Dave Lindorff Nina Hartley Website of the Day
February 1, 2005 Joshua L. Dratel Patrick Cockburn Robert Fisk Uri Avnery Col. Dan Smith Alison Weir Alan Farago Ray Hanania Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
December 22, 2004 James Petras Omar Barghouti Patrick Cockburn / Jeremy Redmond Harry Browne Richard Oxman Kathleen Christison Website of the Day
December 21, 2004 Greg Moses Dave Lindorff Chad Nagle Dragon Pierces
Truth* Patrick Cockburn Seth DeLong Ahmad Faruqui Paul Craig
Roberts
Hot Stories Alexander Cockburn Subcomandante
Marcos Norman Finkelstein Steve Niva Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams Steve
J.B. Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber Wendell
Berry CounterPunch
Wire Cindy
Corrie Gore Vidal Francis Boyle
Subscribe Online
|
Weekend Edition Why Not Jeb and W.'s Kids First?Labeling Kids Mentally Ill for ProfitBy EVELYN PRINGLE Citing recommendations by the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFC), Bush wants to launch a nationwide mental illness screening program in government institutions, including the public school system, for all students from kindergarten up to the 12th grade. The New Freedom Commission was established by an Executive Order Bush issued on April 29, 2002. According to a July 22, 2003, press release, the Commission recommends transforming America's mental health care system. ìAchieving this goal will require greater engagement and education of first line health care providers - primary care practitioners - and a greater focus on mental health care in institutions such as schools, child welfare programs, and the criminal and juvenile justice systems. The goal is integrated care that can screen, identify, and respond to problems early,î the Commission's press release stated. According to the NFC, its recommendations are being already being promoted in Alaska; Arizona; Arkansas; California; Colorado; Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Hawaii; Idaho; Illinois; Indiana; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Montana; Nebraska; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; Utah; Virginia; Washington; West Virginia; Wisconsin; and Wyoming. The truth is, this is nothing but another Bush profiteering scheme to implement a drug treatment program for use in the public institutions that will generate high volume sales of the relatively new, but inadequately tested, high-priced psychiatric drugs. If all goes as planned, the scheme will generate millions of new customers for the drug companies.
The commission's final report identifies what it claims are several model programs as examples of how aspects of mental health care have been transformed in selected communities. One program is the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP), a medication treatment program that screens people for mental illness and then prescribes highly profitably psychiatric drugs. However, the plan came under intense scrutiny when it was implemented in the state of Pennsylvania. A whistle-blower by the name of Allen Jones,* who was an employee of the Pennsylvania office of Inspector General, published a report that described how medical leaders in Pennsylvania who controlled the medication plan, received payments from the drug companies who were going to benefit from the plan. Through the Texas scheme, drug companies were able to gain unlimited access to the Texas prison system, juvenile justice system, foster care program, and state mental health hospitals, to recruit new customers. In Texas, the list of medications to be prescribed was established by what was termed, an ìexpert consensus,î and drugs recommended for first line treatment, included high-priced drugs such as Paxil, Zyprexa, Adderall, Zoloft, Risperdal, Seroqual, Depakote, Prozac, Wellbutron, Zyban, Remeron, Serzone, and Effexor. After securing access to the public systems, the next step in the Texas scheme was to get lawmakers to pass legislation to increase Medicaid coverage to persons who ordinarily would not qualify, in order to provide funding by way of tax dollars to pay for the drugs prescribed to customers within theses systems. The fact is, our children are already being overmedicated. According to a May, 2003 report by the New York Times, "National sales of anti-psychotics reached $6.4 billion in 2002, making them the fourth-highest-selling class of drugs, behind cholesterol-lowering drugs, ulcer drugs and antidepressants.î The number of children on antidepressant medication increased by over 500% between 1999 and 2003. Antidepressants and anti-psychotics now constitute two of the four top classes of drug sales. For example, Zyprexa is manufactured by Eli Lilly and is one of the drugs on the list in Texas. In 2002, according to the watchdog group, NDC Health, "more than 7.4 million prescriptions were written for Zyprexa." In 2003, it became Eli Lilly's top seller with worldwide sales of over $4 billion. According to the New York Times, 70% of the Zyprexa purchased in the US that year, was paid for by government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Eli Lilly has well-known ties to the Bush administration. After he left the CIA in 1977, Bush Senior became a member of Lilly's board of directors. When he left the company to become Vice President under Reagan in 1980, he forgot to mention that he owned stock in the company at the same time that he was lobbying for tax breaks for the company even though it manufactured drugs in Puerto Rico. Bush Junior made Eli Lilly CEO, Sidney Taurel, a member of the Homeland Security Council. During the 2000 presidential election year, Lilly gave over $1.5 million to political candidates and over 80% that $1.5 million went to Bush and other Republican candidates. Many members of the New Freedom Commission also have ties to the pharmaceutical industry and have served on drug company advisory boards. What's In Store For Us The NFC appointed 15 subcommittees to review of the mental health service delivery system and appointed a Chair for each one. Several other Commissioners served on each subcommittee, and chose experts to provide advice and support. The experts prepared discussion papers that outlined key issues and presented policy options for consideration by the full subcommittee. The subcommittee reported to the full Commission only in summary form, on which the full Commission reached a consensus on the policy options that would be included in its final report entitled, ìAchieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America.î A February 5, 2003, summary report by the Policy Options Subcommittee on Medicaid, began by stating, ìAn effective and comprehensive mental health system must rely on many sources of financing. Many States have made significant use of flexibility in the Medicaid program to support their systems of care. This has resulted in Medicaid being the largest payer of public mental health services in the country.î The report outlined the following recommendations:
One February 5, 2003, report by a subcommittee titled, Promoting, Preserving and Restoring Children's Mental Heath, began in part, by saying, ìMental health problems among children and adolescents constitute a public health crisis for our nation. ... The extent, severity, and far-reaching consequences of mental health problems in children and adolescents make it imperative that our nation adopt a comprehensive, systematic, public health approach to improving the mental health status of children,î the report said. The approach, the report advised, should focus on ìboth strengthening services and supports for children with serious emotional disorders and their families, and on prevention and early intervention strategies for all children.î The subcommittee wanted the Federal and State governments to formulate a plan to (1) implement a cross-agency, comprehensive, public health approach for children's mental health at Federal and State levels; (2) strengthen children's mental health focus in State governments; and (3) establish a Federal interagency entity for children's mental health. As for funding, the subcommittee said: ìFederal and state agencies and commercial insurers should realign funding policies related to children's mental health to support a comprehensive array of services and supports, including home and community based services and supports that are individualized, family focused, coordinated, and culturally competent.î The subcommittee specified that a plan should be developed for Medicaid to support home and community-based services and support and individualized care, and maximize strategies to provide coverage and mental health care to uninsured children. In addition, the subcommittee wanted the government to provide technical assistance related to more efficient and effective implementation of early and periodic screening, diagnosis, and treatment (EPSDT). Here's good one. The subcommittee we should strengthen Federal and State requirements for family participation. ìFederal and state governments should promote a broader concept of ìmental healthî services for children and adolescents with emotional disorders and their families,î it advised. ìRecognizing that children receive more services through schools than any other public system,î the report recommended that ìfederal, state, and local agencies should more fully recognize and address the mental health needs of youth in the education system,î it advised. ìLikewise, these agencies should work collaboratively with families and develop, evaluate, and disseminate effective approaches for providing mental health services and supports to youth in schools,î it wrote. The subcommittee recommended training teachers and school personnel to recognize signs of emotional problems in children and to make appropriate referrals for assessment and services. ìSystematic screening procedures to identify ... problems and treatment needs should be implemented in specific settings in which youngsters are at high risk for emotional disorders or where there is known to be a high prevalence of these or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders,î according to the report. And get this! Anyone involved in the juvenile justice system or welfare system is really in for trouble. ìScreening should be implemented upon entry into, and periodically thereafter in, the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, as well as in other settings and populations with known high risk, such as the Medicaid population. When mental health problems are identified, youth should be linked with appropriate services and supports,î the report advised. This gang of thugs is even coming up with ways to make money off infants shortly after they enter the world. This particular report recommends screening for all children ages 0 to 5 for social and emotional development as part of primary health care visits.
Dr Jane Orient, the Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) has a few things to say about this latest profiteering scheme. "Teams of experts are awaiting an infusion of cash,î she says, ìThey'll be ensconced in your child's school before you even know it.î Orient says an added ìbonus is that your little darlings will probably give them quite a bit of information about you also, and then you can receive therapy you didn't know you needed." According to Orient, kids will be asked invasive personal questions like whether their parents raise their voice, or ìEver spank them? Have politically incorrect attitudes? Use forbidden words? Own a gun? Smoke cigarettes, especially indoors? Read extremist literature? Refuse to recycle? Prepare for a knock at the door." The answers to these questions could lead to a home visit with parents, and accusations of "poor parenting skills, inadequate housekeeping, harmful literature, or a baby who is crying. ...," Orient warns. She lists the many tools at the disposal of what she calls "the mental health squad," including "Counseling sessions. Drugs. Group therapy. Removing the child from the home." Although removing a child from the home is listed as a last resort, the mere threat of it "can accomplish wonders," Orient noted. According to the he University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Student Health Center, privacy rights are essentially being ignored. The center is telling patients that if government agencies want to see their medical records, they get to review them without a patient's knowledge or consent. "By law we cannot reveal when we have disclosed such information to the government," the center advised.
Screen Those In Dire Need First If you want to see mental illness, just go knock on the door of the White House, or the Bushës home in Crawford, Texas. I recommend that we start this mandatory screening program with the Bush family. Lets find some treatment for their deep-seeded mental health problems. For instance, what rotten things happened in the Bush home that drove the twins to start drinking excessively while under age. And what emotional problems caused them to intentionally embarrass their father in a matter of months after he took office. Then lets screen the President's nieces and nephews to see why Jeb's kids find it appropriate to forge prescriptions for drugs, and why his son would engage in underage sex in a car parked in a public shopping center lot. Or why Jeb's wife would try to smuggle in goods from other countries without paying the fees. Then lets move on to brother Neil and have him screened to find out what compelled him to have sex with strange women who showed up at his motel room door in foreign countries, which resulted in a case of incurable VD. And let's find out what possessed him to have an affair with his mother's secretary while both parties were still very married.. Next, let's line up members of the Bush administration and find out what compulsions need eradicating. Then let's continue on to the officials at the FDA and figure out what happened to their consciences, which allow them to promote medicating kids for profits. Granted, the "New Freedom Commission" is a catchy title. However, words can be very deceptive. I fail to see how forcing people to undergo mental health testing can possibly represent freedom, or how drugging people for profit can hardly be viewed as a form of freedom. I agree with an article I read on NewsTarget.com that said, ìthese people have lost their minds in a mad attempt to generate obscene profits regardless of the cost to human life, individual privacy, and human rights.î Evelyn Pringle lives in Miamisburg Ohio. She can be reached at: e.pringle@sbcglobal.net * To the millions of doctors,
parents and patients who will be affected, Allen Jones says educate
yourselves. The Internet has many sites that will help you. The
Alliance for Human Research Protection, www.ahrp.org
would be a good place to start.
|
