Rebecca, they told police, had been diagnosed when she was just 2 1/2...
This sentence should never exist. But, wait! There's more!
[Psychiatrist] Kifuji told police Rebecca had been her patient since August 2004, when she was 2. She said she based her diagnoses of ADHD and bipolar disorder on the family's mental health history, as described by Carolyn Riley, and Rebecca's behavior, as described by Carolyn and briefly observed by her during office visits.
Wait for it...
...Pharmacists at Walgreens in Weymouth called Kifuji twice to complain that Carolyn Riley was asking for more Clonidine, even though her prescription was not due to be refilled yet, according to state police.
Once, Riley said she had lost a bottle of pills, and another time, she said water had gotten into her prescription bottle and ruined the pills, according to police.
Kifuji authorized refills, but after the second incident, she began prescribing Clonidine in 10-day refills instead of 30-day supplies, investigators said.
On Aug. 16, a prescription for 35 Clonidine tablets — a 10-day supply — was filled at Walgreens, even though the Rileys had obtained a 10-day refill only the day before, investigators said.
Walgreens spokeswoman Tiffani Bruce said: "The scrip was filled as written, as it was prescribed by the doctor, and all the appropriate information on the medications was given to the family."
After Rebecca's death, police found only seven Clonidine tablets in the family's medicine tray; the pharmacist said there should have been 75. All together, prosecutors say, Carolyn Riley got 200 more pills in one year than she should have. [emphasis mine]
Want a quiet kid? Overdose them. Dead, they're really really quiet.
The larger issue, saith the story, is diagnosing kids. Really the larger issue is parenting. Should the Otherh and I decide to breed, there is every statistic against us that we'd have a sprog with something in the way of mental health issues. We're both bipolar, he's Asperger's and I'm ADHD. But because we're in such a brave new world, we can procreate. There's no law that says we can't. I know parents of very young bipolars, and while it's great they can diagnose young, it's also something of a sad story that they have to do so. However, our encyclopedic knowledge of mental illness and the like would probably prepare us for the worst and have us hoping for the best. We both figure we started exhibiting symptoms of depression younger than 10 yrs old. But 2 1/2 ? Tantrums are something that I figure just happen with kids. Parents, it seems, who medicate the life out of their children are missing something in the "what is a kid" department. Again, I'm no expert, because I'm not a parent, nor do I really plan on being one at this point.
I know a lot of adult bipolars who don't know what their meds do. This kid was given Clonidine, traditionally a blood pressure-reducing medication. I know this because when I tried it, I got sicker than shit because I already have pretty reasonable blood pressure. Clonidine is used off label in psychiatry often for people with compulsive behaviour. Like overeating, or addiction. What the hell it was doing in a safe and legal manner being used for a 4yo is beyond me, but I'm not really up on child psychiatry.
When Michael Riley decided the kids were "acting up," he told Carolyn to give them pills
...
The point, which I'm having a hard time making, is that generally, people are sheep. and sheep are stupid. And a kid is dead because she was too exuberant. Medication doesn't regulate exuberance. for bipolars, it regulates mood imbalance. Imbalance.
socialism rox