Thursday, October 27, 2011

Effects of antipsychotic drugs on kids raise concerns

A panel of pediatric experts has called on government regulators to further study the impact of antipsychotic drugs on children and improve labeling of the medications, which are often prescribed to children with developmental disabilities.

In a 16 to 1 vote this past September, a pediatric advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urged the agency to continue to study the safety of antipsychotic drugs such as Risperdal, Seroquel and Abilify.

The committee also recommended that the FDA enhance drug labeling to emphasize concerns about weight gain, diabetes and other risks that children face when taking the psychiatric medications.

According to a report by Reuters, the recommendations come as more and more children — including many with developmental disabilities — are prescribed antipsychotics, though little is known about the impact of the drugs on young people.

For more on this story, see Advisers urge FDA to address antipsychotics in kids on the Reuters website.

You can also find some basic information on the types of medications used to treat mental disorders, the side effects of medications, directions for taking them, and FDA warnings on the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Disability-rights advocates sue California over proposed cuts

In late September a law suit was filed jointly in federal court by Arc California and United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of San Diego against the State of California alleging that the State has “abandoned people with developmental disabilities and exposed them to health and safety risks by failing to provide reasonable support services.” Both organizations advocate for people with developmental disabilities. In filing suit, they are attempting to block nearly $100 million in proposed cuts to services for Californians with developmental disabilities, with millions more in cuts triggered if state revenue does not meet projections.

(See: California's budget faces new legal challenges, in the Los Angeles Times and Disability-Rights Advocates Plan Challenge to State Budget Cuts in California Healthline.)

“As California taxpayers, we fully appreciate the State’s need to reduce costs, but we cannot allow the State to endanger its citizens and risk their basic civil rights,” Arc California executive director Tony Anderson said in a statement released on the Sacramento-based organization’s website.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Report on developmentally disabled man at San Quentin

San Quentin prison by Stephen Worrell
San Quentin prison
by Stephen Worrell
PHA lent some support to the mother of a developmentally disabled man who got caught in the legal system. You can read reports on the issue here on this blog at When the disabled slip through the cracks (06/09/2011) and Update on developmentally disabled man caught in prison system (07/01/2011).

Her efforts to keep him from being incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County ultimatley failed, and it was with great concern - for his safety and over the appropriateness of the placement - that she saw him transferred there in September.

PHA has just received an update, which fortunately offers some hope for Malcolm in his situation. We'll reprint it here in its entirety.

I just received a call from a woman in the Mental Health unit at San Quentin about Malcolm. She asked the question on all of our minds: What is this person doing here? She said that she has visited with Malcolm twice and he will be meeting with a therapist at least once a week. He is already on the radar of staff as someone who needs looking out for, and people are very aware that he is no threat to the institution and is someone who needs to be protected.

We spoke for 45 minutes about Malcolm's history before, during, and after his arrest. She said given his short time it is possible they will keep him there at San Quentin. She looked in his file and saw a release date of February 12, 2012, but stresses that might not include all the calculations so don't count on that just yet. She said Malcolm explained to her very clearly that he was never told not to threaten sheriffs and that he is adament that he did not do anything against the judge's instructions when he was placed on probation. She said you can tell that at his core he is still a child.

To talk to someone who has spent time with him is such a blessing. To know that he is touching hearts means my Malcolm is still my Malcolm as I know him and even prison guards and staff can see his sweetness. I am walking on air right now and just wanted to share.

Love, Debora

There are some 30,000 developmentally disabled people in the California prison system. PHA will continue to support efforts to examine the State's penal code for ways in which legislation can be affected such that individuals who do not function at an adult level are not judged as adults in the courts and are not punished with adults in the prisons.

Healthcare coverage for autism mandated by new California bill

On Sunday, Governor Brown approved SB 946, a measure that will require health plans to include coverage for autism as a medical benefit. Passage of the bill makes California the 28th state to take steps to end autism insurance discrimination.

Insurers will be required to cover the treatments only until the federal healthcare law signed by President Obama is implemented. If the federal government does not provide coverage for the treatments outlined in the bill by July 2014, the state autism-coverage mandate will expire.

Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), the author of the bill, was quoted in the Los Angeles Times when he hailed Brown’s signature as "a critical victory for thousands of California children and families. For many of them, having this therapy covered by their insurance is the difference between despair and hope."

There are still many particulars regarding cost, effectiveness and the reach of the new provisions to work out. For instance, the mandate does not apply to Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program, or Healthy Families, California's Children's Health Insurance Program, and so there are questions about its protections for children without private insurance.

Overall, however, it is considered a step forward in addressing the many health and financial concerns facing families affected by autism.

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For more information on the new legislation, read:
Questions About Costs, Duration of New Autism Mandate Persist in Calif.

Autism: Law make insurers cover therapy - for now
in the SF Chronicle

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

PHA Board of Directors to meet Saturday

This coming Saturday, October 8, is the first regularly scheduled meeting of the new 2011-2012 Board of Directors for the Parent Hospital Association (PHA). PHA welcomes all returning board members, as well as a few new members, including board president Kathleen Miller.

The board has a full agenda planned for Saturday's meeting and is looking forward to a busy and eventful year working on behalf of the residents of Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) and others with developmental disabilities in Northern California. Watch for a full report in the next issue of The Eldridge Gazette.

The PHA board meets the second Saturday of alternating months: October, December, February, April, June and August. General membership meetings are held the second Saturday of the other six months of the year: November, January, March, May and July. Full details are posted here. Please bookmark the page and mark you calendar for the next general meeting scheduled for 10:00 a.m., on Saturday, November 12th, in McDougall Hall on the SDC campus.

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For more information on the activities of the Parent Hospital Assocation, you can download back issues of the bi-monthly newsletter, The Eldridge Gazette, by visiting the Resources page of this blog and clicking on the links to each issue.
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