Psychiatric Meds Eyed After Girl's Death

4-Year-Old's Fatal Overdose Raises Questions About Psychiatric Prescriptions For Kids

(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 — died Dec. 13 of an overdose of prescribed drugs. 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?

Dispensing drugs to children diagnosed with mood or behavior problems is "the easiest thing to do, but it's not always the best thing to do," said Dr. Jon McClellan, medical director of the Child Study and Treatment Center in Lakewood, Wash. "At some level, I would hope that you'd also be teaching kids ways to control their behavior."

According to the medical examiner, Rebecca died of a combination of Clonidine, a blood pressure medication Rebecca had been prescribed for ADHD; Depakote, an anti-seizure and mood-stabilizing drug prescribed for the little girl's bipolar disorder; a cough suppressant and an antihistamine. The amount of Clonidine alone in Rebecca's system was enough to be fatal, the medical examiner said.

The two brand-name prescription drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in adults only, though doctors can legally prescribe them to youngsters, and do so frequently.

Rebecca's parents, Michael and Carolyn Riley, say they were only following doctor's orders. Rebecca, they told police, had been diagnosed when she was just 2½, and Rebecca's psychiatrist prescribed the same potent drugs that had been prescribed for her older brother and sister when she diagnosed them with the same illnesses several years earlier.

But Rebecca's teachers, the school nurse and her therapist all told police they never saw behavior in Rebecca that fit her diagnoses, such as aggression, sharp mood swings or hyperactivity.

Prosecutors say the Rileys intentionally tried to quiet their daughter with high doses of Clonidine. Relatives told police the Rileys called Clonidine the "happy medicine" and the "sleep medicine."

Through their attorneys, Michael Riley, 34, and Carolyn Riley, 32, have accused Rebecca's psychiatrist, Dr. Kayoko Kifuji, of over-prescribing medication.

[leidhold]

that's right, be angry with the medical profession.
they are EVIL!!!

dr's are EVIL, just like the MEDS ARE EVIL!!!

[daiseylu]

Why didn't the family members or the teachers or the doctor, or Walgreens, DO SOMETHING. How could this little girl, stumbling around, looking lethargic go undetected? Did no one think her heart could stop? If she re acted this way over an asprin, wouldn't anyone be alerted? The uncle kicked the door, when he should have taken her to the hospital, the authorities, should have been called, someone, should have helped this girl, no one did, it's that simple.

[oleander8]

I am enraged at the medical profession and their overuse of bipolar disorder and ADHD labels.
"hyperactivity, distractibility and talkativeness" ...these are also signs of healthy children who require attention and guidance. This is a scandal.

[leidhold]

maybe some kids don't like their teachers and they don't shut up or they don't stop banging on their desk to just irritate the teacher or therapist. gosh, adults do this, too, just to **** people off. look at what our president says and does. pass the meds to bush, too.

give our whole sociry meds because most people don't behave.

leave it to the dr's and we will all be zombies passing them our money to their bank account that they don't pay taxes on to the gov't.

leidhold

[leidhold]

children need meds because their parents stink at parenting....

don't go to the dr's, parents, go to class to learn how to parent....

learn how to not trust dr's because they are evil people!!

quacks = dr's...

leidhold

[leidhold]

dr's just want to pass out meds like candy so they can have patients come back and give them insurance or medicaid money. our society is all about MEDS AND MONEY!!! give them some more meds because the child cries or the woman complains.


maybe the dr's need the meds and to be sent straight to JAIL!!!

dr's should not be trusted. they are in it for money and prestige....

they go to work just liek a garbage man or a store clerk. convenience store clerk.... that's what dr's equal... no better, no worse...

leidhold

[lambofgoth]

A lot of people don't understand neurological/behavioral issues that show up in young children... hence Tom Cruise aka drivinhome makes comments like they do.
That being said, I agree the parents here just "suck". Obviously once the child hits the "terrible twos" it's time to drug them so perhaps dad can molest them easier... or at least so you don't have to hear from them.
I hope the other kids are taken from the home... and never returned.

[linfinster]

Raising a child with either a mild, moderate or severe mental disorder takes the cooperation of both the Dr and the parents. Clonidine is a controlled substance and, I beleive, can only be prescribed in 1 month quanities. How much was prescribed for this girls? Did the parents use more from the other children to give to the younger sibling?
My son is ADHD, took meds for school only until he was in 11th gr and then didn't want to anymore. I didn't push it. He was given plenty of opportunity to play, extra curricular activities, AND CONSISTANCY at home made him able to cope with what can be a very disabling problem.
If parents can't parent ... and it sounds like they had other children to deal with .. MAN! I hope the other kids have been removed from the home.

[siktadeth]

I was a psychology/counseling major in college, and back then(20 yrs ago) I arrogantly thought you could fix most of these problems with therapy.
Now, after being a teacher for years, I see that for some reason, many kids really do have "something" wrong with them. Their hand writing changes, they drum incessantly on desks, they can't keep their mouth shut. I have come to agree that some kids need medication.

But what happened to this little girl was the fault of her slovenly, abusive, i.diot parents who apparently knew enough to have children and seek welfare, subsidized housing and social services for them, but didn't want to hear a peep out of them. The overwhelming evidence points to the fact that these parents, frankly, suck. Bipolar, rage disorder, accused of molestation, anxiety and depression? Way to go guys...good gene pool. Keep havin' kids, okay? Sheesh...

[lucyfeo]

I have ADHD, and was diagnosed in the early 60's. I have four children, three of which have been diagnosed as having ADHD. I teach and have had to fill out physicians forms to help diagnose the children for learning disabilities, ADD or ADHD being among them. Contrary to what this physician says, I do not believe a four year old could be correctly diagnosed with ADHD, or Bipolar disorder. All four year olds have an attention deficit....that is called being a four year old. Bipolar is what was once called Manic Depression. How would one ever know this child is manic if she is listless. No child, no matter how severe the disorder, should ever be listless. Based on this article, it is obvious the father is abusive and the mother was using all the usual tricks to get more meds than what was prescribed. She had to have known what she was doing, everyone knows healthy four year olds do not sleep all day and all night. She wasn't even potty trained, which shows she wasn't developing appropriately, and that is not a symptom of ADHD, but of neglect.

[lucyfeo]

I have ADHD, and was diagnosed in the early 60's. I have four children, three of which have been diagnosed as having ADHD. I teach and have had to fill out physicians forms to help diagnose the children for learning disabilities, ADD or ADHD being among them. Contrary to what this physician says, I do not believe a four year old could be correctly diagnosed with ADHD, or Bipolar disorder. All four year olds have an attention deficit....that is called being a four year old. Bipolar is what was once called Manic Depression. How would one ever know this child is manic if she is listless. No child, no matter how severe the disorder should ever be listless. Based on this article, it is obvious the father is abusive and the mother was using all the usual tricks to get more meds than what was prescribed. She had to have known what she was doing, everyone knows healthy four year olds do not sleep all day and all night. She wasn't even potty trained, which shows she wasn't developing appropriately, and that is not a symptom of ADHD, but of neglect.

[petesis]

That is truly wrong to be giving these drugs (that have never been proven to even be effective any better than placebo) to children. The vast world of mental illness is divided up between spoiled, useless attention seekers, and those with organic brain damage that gets lumped in as mental illness. (schizophrenia).

[candida1976]

What is wrong with pepole? How could any one give there child that kind of meds. That child could not even known day from night. How could anyone do that to a child I do not understand. I hope and pray that these pepole get death or at least never see the light of day again. The people that was suppose to love and protect this child murdered her. I do not understand this. I have two kids and I could never imagine hurting them. These pepole are messed up.

[drivinhome]

WHAT ?

Why on earth would anyone put a child on powerfull mind altering psychotrophic drugs that studies show cause permanent brain damage ( they burn out the receptors in the brain - causeing irriversible damage )?

Would you put a kid on dope ?

Well what do you think these drugs are? They are in the same classification as heroin and cocain. Any doctor can tell you that.

What is wrong with these people?

Doesn't anyone research anything anymore?

Ever heard of love and understanding, nurturing a child, educating?

If your doctor said jump off that bridge, you would think twice?

Why throw your kids life away like that then?

Makes no sense. Unless they've been grossly missinformed, or are just bad persons.

[mdc76082]

It wasn't a major failure of what we have coined "the system". A system didn't fail this girl, her parents failed her. As for the diagnosis, I have 2 sons who have been diagnosed the same and were on the same meds as this little girl. I still feel today, there is no such diagnosis, but rather children today are so absorbed by modern "conveinences" that they have become lazy and don't channel their energy as we did (I'm 44) by playing baseball, soccer, football, running around the neighborhood, bicycling, etc. (it's uncool), instead they plop in front of the tv with the coolest video games or hang around with other "useless" peers and with all the built up energy they simply wigout and have their tantrums and mood swings. The parents failed this little girl. I've always said, we as adults & parents are our kid's worst enemies. There's too much of this kind of wasteful death, and unnecessary dying every single day when we pick up a paper, watch the news, or get on the internet. Don't you think it's time to say ENOUGH is ENOUGH. There's no "system let down". It's adults that do the letting down. Wakeup America & grow some. Get proactive and get your kid's life back from the bottom of a medicine bottle.

[olebd]

Who's the quack that diagnosed a 4 year old with these ailments and prescribed this heavy-duty medicine. He/she should be hauled in too.

She more than likely was just a energetic little girl and the parents couldn't/didn't want to put up with her.

What a shame. This little girl's whole world failed her.