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.