Mom Guilty of Killing Girl with Drugs

(AP)  A Massachusetts woman was convicted of second-degree murder Tuesday in the fatal prescription drug overdose of her 4-year-old daughter.

Carolyn Riley, 35, was accused of overmedicating her daughter, Rebecca, on powerful drugs prescribed by a psychiatrist who diagnosed her with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder by the time she was 3.

Prosecutors said Riley and her husband, Michael, concocted symptoms of mental illness in their daughter in an attempt to collect federal disability benefits, then overmedicated her for months to keep her quiet and out of their way.

Defense lawyers said Rebecca died of a severe, fast-moving pneumonia, not a drug overdose.

The case reignited debate in the psychiatric community about whether young children can accurately be diagnosed with bipolar disorder and whether they should be treated with powerful adult drugs.

Jurors reached their verdict on the third day of deliberations, rejecting a first-degree murder charge and opting instead for the lesser second-degree murder charge.

Riley showed no emotion as the jury announced its verdict. Superior Court Judge Charles Hely immediately sentenced her to the mandatory term of life in prison, with parole eligibility after 15 years.

Michael Riley faces a separate trial.

Rebecca was found dead on the floor of her parents' bedroom on Dec. 13, 2006.

A state medical examiner testified that the girl died of a combination of Clonidine, a blood pressure medication the girl had been prescribed for ADHD; Depakote, an antiseizure and mood-stabilizing drug prescribed for bipolar disorder; and two over-the-counter drugs, a cough suppressant and an antihistamine.

Rebecca's uncle and his girlfriend testified that they pleaded with the Rileys to take the girl to a doctor in the final days of her life, when she grew increasingly ill. Instead of getting medical attention for her, Carolyn Riley gave her a lethal dose of Clonidine, prosecutors said.

Defense attorneys portrayed Riley as a loving mother who was struggling to raise Rebecca and her two siblings, who also had been diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar disorder and were taking similar medications. The defense said Riley followed the advice of her children's psychiatrist, Dr. Kayoko Kifuji, in the amount of drugs she gave her children.

Riley did not testify during the trial. But prosecutors played videotapes of her during an interview with police after her daughter's death and a later interview for the television news show, "60 Minutes." She said she believed her daughter only had a cold, not pneumonia, in the last few days of her life.

Kifuji, who testified after receiving immunity, said she relied on Riley's description of her daughter's behavior in diagnosing her and also repeatedly wrote prescriptions with increased dosages of the girl's psychotropic medications after the mother told her she had already increased them on her own.

[newsterl]

said she relied on Riley's description of her daughter's behavior in diagnosing her and also repeatedly wrote prescriptions with increased dosages of the girl's psychotropic medications after the mother told her she had already increased them on her own. "

So this doctor writes higher prescriptions because mom decided to increase the dose on her own???

[askagain]

It sounds like the doctor was duped along with state and/or federal authorities administering disability benefits. The mother may have come across as a caring and loving person. People with young children know that doctor's often have to rely on descriptions by parents when treating young children. Three year old children are often too young to reliably describe problems that bother them. When my three-year-old grandson was being treated for earaches, the doctor had to rely on descriptions from my son and daughter-in-law as part of the diagnoses. The girl's parent sound like psychopaths.

[rwsmith29456]

Sounds like everybody is liable for something here, except for the litte girl.

[cidaia]

Why did they give the psychiatrist immunity?

[texbelle123]

Why is this woman still a psychiatrist?!??? Whether or not she had immunity from prosecution, the American Psychiatric Association should certainly yank her license so she can't diagnose based on a layman's description of behavior, then over prescribe dangerous drugs.

Geez. More than the parents are guilty in this unnecessary death.

[formrusmcsgt]

With smaller children, physician's count on parental feedback in regards to effectiveness of dosages.

They never suspect a parent is jeopardizing their own child's health by lying.

[cidaia]

A psychiatrist isn't a physicians. Physicians treat patients based on biological evidence, with the goal of making them better. Psychiatrists treat patients based on whether there is deviance from desired human behavioral ideals, with the goal of making them socially acceptable.

[cidaia]

Psychiatric "professionals" aren't.

They "diagnose" children with an illness based on the hearsay evidence from teachers and parents. If it were a real biological/medical disorder, the diagnosis would be based on biological evidence.

It's no surprise that medicinal marijuana is already being used to treat children with ADD. We do not use drugs that are known to cure what the biological problem is, because we are not basing the diagnosis on the finding of a biological problem. We're basing the diagnosis on "this kid behaves bad" and our cure involves giving them drugs til we find one that makes them behave "good".

Good, of course, is a subjective term. The children don't necessarily have cause to agree with what a teacher or parent would consider "good".

It's not science, except in that it is apparently all about experimenting on an entire population in a most unethical way.

[erasmus111]

<br /> <br /> <br />"
THIS WEBSITE SUCKS!!!

[erasmus111]

"Prosecutors said Riley and her husband, Michael, concocted symptoms of mental illness in their daughter in an attempt to collect federal disability benefits..."


"Kifuji, who testified after receiving immunity, said she relied on Riley's description of her daughter's behavior in diagnosing her and also repeatedly wrote prescriptions with increased dosages of the girl's psychotropic medications after the mother told her she had already increased them on her own."



This doctor needs to be put in jail. If you have a 3 year old who has bipolar disorder and ADHD, you are going to see it. And she shouldn't have given any medications without seeing signs of it, herself.