Decisions for parents, not bureaucrats
15 September 2004 - Los Angeles Times

Could there be anything more interesting to parents who love their kids than this week’s announcement by the FDA that some anti-depressants that it has approved for use by children years ago are now found to possibly cause suicidal tendencies in children?

Absolutely: the timing of the announcement, considering the recent report released by the Bush administration’s “New Freedom Commission on Mental Health”, which recommends universal (political-speak for “mandatory”) mental health screening for every American child. Should this new program come to pass, the government will have the power to diagnose and prescribe medication for any child they label as a “problem child” – forcing parents to medicate their kids with psychotropic drugs like Ritalin and Paxil that may not be safe, and whose very efficacy is doubted by some.

Parents and their personal doctors should make decisions regarding kids’ medication, not some government committee and the bureaucratic FDA.