Category: Stefanie Magner
Child Medication Safety Act
WASHINGTON – Three years ago, when Sheila Matthews’ son was seven, his school psychiatrist diagnosed him with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and called her to discuss treatment options. Officials at the New Canaan school told her the boy would not be allowed to attend class unless he was medicated.
“They provided me with only pro-drug material. They never told me of the dangers,” Matthews said. . “I was fighting to get my son an education, and basically my school said there was nothing else that they could offer him.”
Soon afterward, Matthews watched on television as Patricia Weathers, another mother, testified before the House Committee on Government Reform. She contacted Weathers, and the two decided to launch a national fight to stop school from requiring students to take medication.
“We decided that we would fight, and then we found several other parents who were pressured and coerced and only given partial information [about medication], and their children died,” Matthews said.
Fearful for their children’s lives, Matthews and Weathers started AbleChild: Parents for Label and Drug Free Education, a national, non-profit grassroots organization that is pressing for a federal law that would make it illegal for schools to require students to be on medication.
The group has singled out Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) for criticism because, AbleChild said, he won’t co-sponsor the bill despite numerous requests that he do so.
Connecticut set a precedent for the rest of the country in 2001 by enacting a law similar to the federal bill the group is currently pushing. Six other states followed suit.
But Matthews said the states aren’t enforcing the laws. She said federal legislation could be more effective because it could cut off funds for states that don’t comply.
Matthews said Dodd should sign on as a co-sponsor to support what his state began. “Other states have looked at Connecticut’s state law as being model legislation,” she said.
“We have parents’ signatures who are from states which have, in fact, passed legislation prohibiting schools from coerced drugging, yet the pressure continues because there is no set accountability for violations of these laws,” Matthews said. “There must be financial penalties for federally funded agencies, namely schools, that completely disregard a parent’s right to raise their child drug free.”
Dodd’s press secretary, Ryan McGinn, said, “Senator Dodd does not support the coerced medication of children and believes that medical decisions concerning children should be made by their parents in consultation with their doctors.” McGinn did not say whether Dodd would vote for the bill.
AbleChild organizers, however, said Dodd is making no effort to get the bill out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on which he serves.
“How can you stand by when 400 parents have come forward across the country and said, ‘Please do this’?” Matthews asked. “We’re relying on our senator to protect our children.”
The group is also targeting Dodd, she said, because of his recent announcement that Norwalk would receive federal grant money to stop drug trafficking to children.
“If he’s giving grants out on drug trafficking, these drugs that we’re asking to prohibit are controlled substances. Ritalin, all these other drugs, are in the same class as what he’s talking about stopping the abuse of, and that’s a clear conflict of interest,” Matthews said.
Matthews also has been in touch with Rep. Chris Shays (R-Norwalk) over the past two years to garner his support. The House passed its version of the bill in May, 425 to1, and Shays voted for it.
“In recent years, there has been an increase in diagnoses of attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This is largely because school personnel freely offer diagnoses and urge parents to obtain drug treatment for their children,” Shays said in a statement. “In some cases, schools are even requiring certain students to take pharmaceuticals to attend schools.
“In my judgment, this is dangerous. Advice about whether to take medication should be given by a physician or licensed medical professional, and no one should coerce a student into taking medication by threatening their ability to attend school — especially if the ‘medical advice’ is coming from an educator.”
The Association of School Psychiatrists opposes the legislation. The American Federation of Teachers has not taken a stand on the issue. Neither the National Education Association nor the Connecticut Education Association, which represent teachers, returned phone calls.
Norwalk school Superintendent Salvatore Corda said he does not think the state law, which allows students to remain in classrooms without medication, has created any serious problems.
Meanwhile, AbleChild has contacted Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), and every senator on the health committee. But Dodd is still its main focus.
“It’s frustrating as a Connecticut resident to see our senator fail to hear our cries for reform,” Matthews said.
Norwalk Students to Engage in Aquarium Research
WASHINGTON - Fifth-grade students from some Norwalk public schools have a new reason to look forward to science class.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has granted the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium $17,765 to help 75 students get real-life experience along with their science lessons, Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) announced Wednesday.
The grant, for the Norwalk Harbor Biodiversity Study, will allow students from five fifth-grade classes to spend a school year conducting field studies on Long Island Sound, going on boat excursions and participating in video labs and Internet research projects concerning the sound.
"I'm pleased the Maritime Aquarium will be able to offer this unique opportunity for science education to Norwalk students," Shays said in a statement. "This study provides local students with a hands-on experience that I hope will foster further excitement about science, as well as preservation of the precious resource of the Long Island Sound."
The students will take field trips to the sound and travel aboard the aquarium's research boat to explore what happens in the water.
The program will provide students with a special Internet site that will allow them to view what's going on in the sound from their classrooms. They then will be able to ask aquarium researchers questions through their computers.
"Live [on-line] chats will be scheduled at the teacher's convenience," said aquarium spokesman Tim Gagne. "One class can go on the cruise, while another watches on-line and can ask direct questions at the time."
The students will be able to observe harbor seals that come up on the rocks and to track weather data, Gagne said. "They can research how weather affects the seals' behavior, and then go out on the research vessel to see it live," he explained.
Aquarium researchers also will go to the students' classrooms to lead discussions and oversee experiments.
The Internet part of the program is expected to be up and running within the next few weeks; the cruises will begin in late November or early December.
"We expect the program to promote genuine enthusiasm about marine science, motivate students to do well in school and provide assistance to teachers seeking to improve their science teaching skills," the aquarium's education director, Jack Schneider, said in a statement.
An existing program allows bedridden children at Westchester Children's Hospital Center to tap into the aquarium through the Internet.
Higher Uninsured Numbers Leads to Greater Stresses
WASHINGTON - Ten thousand fewer Connecticut residents had health insurance in 2002 than in the previous year, according to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. The increase in people without insurance has put a strain on local health clinics and on taxpayers who often foot the bill.
The Census Bureau reported last week that the number of Americans without health insurance shot up by 2.4 million in 2002, to 43.6 million, or 15.2 percent of the population. In Connecticut, 356,000 people, or 10.5 percent of the state's residents, lacked health insurance, up from 10.2 percent in 2001.
"These numbers are staggering," Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said in a statement. "It is simply inconceivable that in a nation as strong and affluent as ours, one in seven citizens are living without any health insurance whatsoever. We can and we must do better."
The Census Bureau blamed the increase on high unemployment rates and an economy in which fewer jobs provide health insurance. Many of Connecticut's uninsured are also illegal immigrants, said Anna Washington, executive director of the Norwalk Community Health Center.
Washington said 40 percent of the center's patients are uninsured and ineligible for any government benefits.
The increase in uninsured patients means the center must remain open longer to handle the workload. It also means some patients can't see the specialists they need, said Cassandra Ramos, administrative assistant to the center's medical director.
"We have more patients to service now," Ramos said. "The staff that is here, they do work long hours because we don't close our door until we service everyone that came through that door, even if that means we're here until 8 o'clock at night."
Because of the increase in patients and staff hours, the center needs more money - which comes almost entirely from taxpayers -- to continue operating effectively, Ramos said. So far, the center has not received more state money, she said.
But even taxpayer money can't solve all the patients' problems. The center has a sliding fee scale, so patients pay as much as they can afford. But many have health problems that need to be handled by specialists, who often will not accept patients without insurance, Ramos said. "While they're going back and forth with their dilemma, the patient is not being serviced in any capacity," she said.
Staff at the center tries to help by phoning specialists to seek treatment. "There's not much we really can do," Ramos said.
The center also has instituted a bit of a political lobbying campaign. It helps patients write letters to urge members of Congress to improve the nation's health insurance system, Ramos said.
The 10 other community health centers throughout Connecticut all have similarly high rates of patients without insurance, Washington said. All the centers operate under the same system.
The ranks of the uninsured grew in nearly every state in 2002, according to the census report. States in the Southwest generally have the highest numbers of uninsured. In Texas, President Bush's home state, more than one-fourth of the residents lack health insurance, the highest rate in the nation.
Dodd blamed the problem on Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress. Health insurance and the increasing number of uninsured Americans is a big political issue, which Democrats view as one of Bush's main weaknesses.
"If our President and his allies were as committed to helping working families get insurance and jobs as they are to helping the privileged few get tax cuts, we could make real progress," Dodd said. "We must make this issue a priority and give all Americans the peace of mind of knowing that their health needs will be met and their families protected."
Norwalk Gets Money to Fight Violent Crime
WASHINGTON - Norwalk will receive $225,000 for programs to reduce crime and drug use and revitalize neighborhoods in South Norwalk, Senators Chris Dodd, D-Conn, and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn, announced Tuesday.
"This grant will help to strengthen the partnerships between Norwalk's police department and the community that protect innocent Connecticut citizens from harm," Lieberman said in a statement.
The federal money comes from the Justice Department and will be used in South Norwalk primarily to reduce violent crime, drug trafficking and gang activities, and increase police presence and community involvement.
"No amount of money can do as much as a caring parent, teacher or neighbor to prevent kids from falling into unhealthy behaviors that include violence and substance abuse," Dodd said. "But there are things that the federal government can do to support families, schools and communities and help them do the best possible job in raising their children. This funding is one such initiative, and I am hopeful that it will provide some much-needed resources to help kids in the neighborhoods of South Norwalk get a better shot at a better life."
Norwalk has been involved with Justice's so-called "weed and seed" program since January1996. The program gives grant money to high-crime neighborhoods to "weed out" violence and crime and establish health, cultural, educational and recreational services in the communities.
This grant is the third for South Norwalk since February 2001.
"Residents and the city of Norwalk have worked hard to develop an effective weed and seed program," said Shays. "With three grants in two years, the U.S. Department of Justice is clearly recognizing Norwalk's job well done."
The New Reality
WASHINGTON - Although most Americans still worry about terrorism two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-4th) said the nation is more secure than people realize.
"People are safer today than they were before Sept. 11," Shays said in an interview earlier this week. "They don't feel that, because there was a false sense of security in the past."
Shays chairs the Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emergency Threats and International Relations, with Homeland Security Department oversight responsibilities.
He said the federal government has made the nation safer by investing billions of dollars to prevent another terrorist attack and to minimize the impact if one should occur. In the current fiscal year, Congress created a Department of Homeland Security and authorized it to spend about $34 billion, which represented a 55 percent increase in what was spent on homeland security before the attacks. President Bush has proposed granting the department more than $36 billion in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
Shays also said the government has reorganized to better deal with the threat of terrorism: the Homeland Security Department coordinates work previously done by 22 agencies, and Congress has passed numerous bills, including those intended to give intelligence agencies more tools to detect terrorism, to make flying safer and keep airlines in business and to protect people from bioterrorism.
But Shays' optimism was offset by senators from both parties at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) said the United States had failed to crack down on the Saudi government, in part because of America's heavy reliance on Saudi oil. Members of the Saudi royal family had financially enabled terrorists, actions that Washington "met with a wink and a nod," he said.
Fifteen of the 19 men who hijacked four planes on Sept. 11, 2001, were Saudi nationals. Nevertheless, Durbin said, the federal government did nothing to stop Saudis from leaving the United States days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said he agreed with Durbin, but did not elaborate.
Shays said that before the Sept. 11 attacks, he had held 23 hearings in his subcommittee about the terrorist threat the country faced but that "there was no interest" in them.
While the country has come a long way in two years, Shays said, there is still work to be done.
"We need to do a better job of helping first responders," he said. "We need to have a very clear understanding of what it takes to be safe at home. We need to establish minimum preparedness levels and equipment and performance standards."
There also have been some positive developments outside the political realm, Shays said. "I think the public has a better appreciation for what the blue-collar folks do for us, particularly those who risked their lives defending us," he said.
"Americans appreciate more than they have in the past just the opportunity to be with their families," Shays added. "We don't take for granted as much as we have in the past. We have a better appreciation and gratitude for what we have."
