Girl's Overdose Death Raises Questions

Rufus_1611 · Mar 26, 2007

Girl's Overdose Death Raises Questions

(AP) -- In the final months of Rebecca Riley's life, a school nurse said the little girl was so weak she was like a "floppy doll." The preschool principal had to help Rebecca off the bus because the 4-year-old was shaking so badly. And a pharmacist complained that Rebecca's mother kept coming up with excuses for why her daughter needed more and more medication. None of their concerns was enough to save Rebecca.
Rebecca - who had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity and bipolar disorder, or what used to be called manic depression - died Dec. 13 of an overdose of prescribed drugs, and her parents have been arrested on murder charges, accused of intentionally overmedicating their daughter to keep her quiet and out of their hair.

Interviews and a review of court documents by The Associated Press make it clear that many of those who were supposed to protect Rebecca - teachers, social workers, other professionals - suspected something was wrong, but never went quite far enough.

But the tragic case is more than a story about one child. It raises troubling, larger questions about the state of child psychiatry, namely: Can children as young as Rebecca be accurately diagnosed with mental illnesses? Are rambunctious youngsters being medicated for their parents' convenience? And should children so young be prescribed powerful psychotropic drugs meant for adults?
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mcdirector · Mar 26, 2007

That's awful on multiple levels!

donnA · Mar 26, 2007

How horrorable. too many times parents are using drugs when all they have is a happy healthy child who likes to be active. want to have kids, learn to put up with the constant activity.

Girl's Overdose Death Raises Questions

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Girl's Overdose Death Raises Questions

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