In addition to scientific articles that have appeared in leading national and international
medical journals, Dr. Baughman has testified for victimized parents and children in ADHD/Ritalin legal cases, writes for the print media and appears on talk radio shows, always making the point that ADHD is fraudulent--a creation of the psychiatric-pharmaceutical cartel, without which they would have nothing to prescribe their dangerous, addictive, Schedule II, stimulants for--namely, Ritalin (methylphenindate), Dexedrine (dextro-amphetamine), Adderall (mixed dextro- and levo-amphetamine) and, Gradumet, and Desoxyn (both of which are methamphetamine, 'speed,' 'ice').

The entire country, including all 5-7 million with the ADHD diagnosis today, have been deceived and victimized; deprived of their informed consent rights and drugged--for profit! It must be stopped. Now!

DEATH BY ADHD

Who Killed Stephanie Hall?
(4863 words.)
by Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD © 8/3/98

If you saw CBS’ Hard Copy, June 24, 1998, you saw Stephanie Hall. You learned that Stephanie, like millions of other children in the US, had attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder—ADHD--and was on Ritalin. You saw a picture of Stephanie--a lovely, healthy, normal. Next, in what was a brief segment that hardly told her story, you saw Stephanie’s gravestone. It told you that she was born January 11, 1984, and that she died January 5, 1996, just short of her 12th birthday. Her parents, Michael and Janet were shown at the grave "where we visit ‘Steph’ now." Her younger sister, Jennie, had ADHD too, and was on Ritalin. But she stopped Ritalin the day ‘Steph’ died and the whole family stopped believing in ADHD.

SCHOOL DAYS

Her mother remembers: "In 1st grade (9/90, 6 year, 9 months) Stephanie was a quite shy girl. She had a great love of books, she just loved school…she had a hard time with cutting skills because she was left handed like myself…she made new friends easily. Then…it was about the 2nd or 3rd week of 1st grade, her teacher told me, ‘Stephanie had a hard time staying on task and that she was making noises.’ But she didn’t make noise at home. Anyhow she—the teacher--suggested that she be tested for ADD and that she could be seen by the school psychologist at no cost to us…We took her to another doctor instead. He said she was easily distracted but could read just fine and had normal intelligence. From teacher to pediatrician to psychologist. Aside from ear infections as a preschooler ‘Steph’ was healthy as could be. They diagnosed ADD and prescribed Ritalin. It was then that her headaches began…every day, except on weekends, when she didn’t take it. There were no more complaints from her teacher.

The psychologist suggested "Stephanie needs a behavior modification approach to deal with some residual effects and strong-willedness," those not taken care of by the Ritalin.
Ritalin was started a 5 mg morning and noon and increased to 10 and 5 in November. She was doing well, having her "Ritalin checks" every 3 months. In the spring semester the pediatrician said she was "ADD-type problems—not completing assignments." Increase to 15 mg a.m., 5 mg noon. Neurology consultation for headaches.
5/6/91, pediatric neurologist: "ADD, on Ritalin. Dramatic improvement in behavior and school performance…top of reading group. Headaches, stomach aches, nausea, daily, since Ritalin started. Headaches eacg morning lasting one to three hours. Doesn’t take Ritalin on weekends, doesn’t have headaches and stomach aches. With or without medication has mood swings and cries easily. Side effects of the medication a concern. Inderal 10-20 mg per day for headache.
5/16/91, pediatrician: "Ritalin 10 mg: 1 ½ tabs am, 1 noon (25 mg total)."

In 2nd grade (September, 1991, 7 YR, 8 MO) ‘Steph’ made friends with no problem. Ritalin 17.5 mg am, 15 noon (total of 32.5mg: 1.625 mg/kg.). Headaches each schoolday—not Saturdays and Sundays when off medication. The pediatrician took over. He saw her every 3 months for a ‘Ritalin check.’ Back on the Ritalin at the start of each school year."
3/3/92: No complaints. 17.5 and 15.
4/27/92: "doing well, A’s and B’s no complaints.

3rd Grade (‘92-’93, 8 YR, 9 MO): "‘Migraines’ still there--run in the family. Stay on the Ritalin."

4th Grade (‘93-‘94, 9 YR, 8 MO): "More agitated."
August 18: "49 ¾", 55 LB "bad headaches all the time--vomited today."
September 22: "4th grader, on Ritalin since first grade. Not completing work. Ritalin 15mg in a.m., 10 mg at noon."
January 24: "52 in., 62 LB. B-C grades. No homework problems. Ritalin:15 and 10."

Janet recalls: Stephanie took off running from the child care center she went to after school. They chased her but couldn’t catch her. She yelled ‘I’m 10 ½ now.’ She took off across a busy 5-lane road, bought her grandmother a paper and took it all the way downtown where she worked. Day-care workers were screaming at her to come to them. Her DARE officer couldn’t believe she acted like. They called me at work. I never worked after school hours again.

May 2: "off Ritalin for summer."

5th Grade (‘94-’95, 10 years, 8 months). Janet: Early in August, 1995…and bear in mind Stephanie wasn’t on medication during the summer or school breaks…suddenly she zoned out on me…totally disconnected. She said: ‘Mom I love you.’ We always told each other this, so I thought nothing of it. But then she said it again and she had this empty stare on her face. I said Steph, what’s the matter?’ and she said: ‘I see her again.’ I said, who? She said: ‘The angel…she looks mad.’ Then she snapped out of it. She said the angel had white and red all around her. Some of the angels were blue. And they all had 4 wings. It reminds me of when she was first put on Ritalin back in the 1st and 2nd grade and told me of seeing angels then…School started. Some of her friends weren’t as friendly anymore. She couldn’t go to the class picnic because she had forgotten an assignment. I still feel bad for her over this."
August, 26: "Ritalin checkup. 53 ½," 70 LB, normal BP. Dose: 15 & 10."
October 6: Increase to 20 in am and 15 noon, or 1.10 mg /kg.

6th Grade (95’-’96 11 years, 8 months): Stephanie made friends easily. Her teachers thought she was the greatest. She wanted to be a paramedic and help people. She had a boy she liked. She was doing OK until the day in October when the vice-principal called and said she was swearing--totally out of character. She was always a good girl. I had never heard her swear. Some girl tried to take her lunch money. A few weeks later I caught her swearing at a boy after school let out. I was shocked, I grounded her. Then, her grades started going down…mostly D’s."

August 22: "55 ½" 85 ½ LB 100/70. "Slow to respond to simple directions, a little uncoordinated. 6th grade, A’s, B’s, C’s, no special problems in school. On Ritalin since first grade, has responded well. Off medication since school out. Medication given for attending problem. Migraine headaches. Menses 7/95. Gets Ritalin on school days and special occasions: 20 and 15."

November 22: "Ritalin checkup. 56 ½" 88 ½ LB, 6th grade, 2 Bs, 4 Cs, appetite good, sleeps well. Minor headaches, transient sore throat, no school problems. Ritalin 20 mg am, 15 mg noon. No reports from teacher with any particular concerns."

December 1. Janet: "The first week of December there were F’s. I asked the pediatrician if an increase in medication might help. He left it up to me. We agreed to increase it after the Christmas vacation."

December 14: "Not paying attention in the a.m. Not completing work, not doing well in school; failing language arts, low test scores. Mom feels she needs increase in medication. Discussed increasing medication: Dose increased to 25mg in am, 15 noon = 40 mg (0.995 mg/kg.), to start when school starts after Christmas."

January 4, Mom: " ‘Steph’ returned to school and took the increase that morning. She seemed real weird, out of it. I kept asking ‘Steph’ are you OK?’" "She kept saying ‘I’m OK Mom,’ ‘I’m OK.’ When I picked her up after school she seemed OK, not spaced out like she had been in the morning, and she wasn’t the last one out of school that day either…When we got home, she did her homework and ate a snack. She couldn’t get enough which reminds me of the award she got in the 4th grade for drinking the water fountain ‘dry.’ Later, we had dinner and went shopping, coming home at about 8:30. I went upstairs to check on them and they were hiding from me in the bedroom closet. They’d set a ‘trap’ of toys hoping I would trip on the way into the room. I recall Steph saying to her little sisters she would always be with them. She brushed her teeth got ready for bed came downstairs and told me and her Dad she loved us. Then she went on upstairs jumping around with her littlest sister, asking for a dollar. ‘It’s 9:00 ‘Steph,’ get to bed,’ I said. ‘OK Mom, I love you.’ ‘I love you too,’ I said. At 10:00. when I went to bed. I put the dog in her room. She was sleeping…The next morning, January 5th , her Dad went to wake her for school. Her sisters were already in the bathtub. She didn’t respond. We called paramedics and the police. Some of them were about to cry. Stephanie was so cold. I kept saying to them ‘She is supposed to bury me, not me bury her’… ‘No other family should know the agony of burying their child.’

CORONER’S REPORT:

"Her only diagnosis was attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD). The decedent was taking Ritalin and her doctor recently changed the dose. The decedent and her family were together last evening, went to look at vans, stopped for soda at Maggiore’s and then came home. The decedent drank her soda, refilled the container with water and put it in the refrigerator. She was last seen alive on the evening of January 4, 1996, at around 9:00 PM, when she went to bed. The father went to wake the decedent for school this morning, January 5, and found her unresponsive. The mother began CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and EMS (emergency medical services) was called… CPR was stopped due to the presence of rigor (mortis) and lividity…The decedent is found lying supine on a cart dressed in purple socks, a pink nightgown, a beige bra and print panties…the body is that of an 11 year old, fully developed, well nourished, approximately 5’ 0" white female who appears her stated age. Rigor mortis is complete, Body warmth is absent. There is cyanosis (blueness) of the lips and nailbeds. The fingernails are intact and partially painted red. hair and eyes brown…blood and vitreous (eye) fluids are obtained…the body is opened with the standard Y-shaped incisions…the organs maintain their normal interrelationships…the weight of the heart is 230 grams…the valve leaflets are thin and freely pliable…serial sectioning through the ventricular wall reveals no inflammation, infarction or fibrosis…the scalp is reflected after bitemporal incision…the weight of the brain is 1450 grams…the shape and symmetry of the brain are unremarkable…blood alcohol negative…serum drug screen negative for all drugs tested …microscopic examination unremarkable for all organs. Cause of Death: I. A) Cardiac arrhythmia. Ruling: Natural death."

A NEUROLOGIST IS CONSULTED

Was Stephanie’s death a ‘natural death’ as the coroner concluded? Janet and Michael—her parents, didn’t think so, and asked me to review the case. True, sudden deaths, even in children, and especially those with a negative autopsy, are likely due to an abnormal heart rhythm—cardiac arrhythmia. But, how often does this occur in normal children? To conclude, as the coroner did, that this was a "natural death" means that all known diseases or abnormalities that could possibly contribute to such a death, have been ruled out. How often do normal, disease- and drug-free,12 year olds develop a cardiac arrhythmia and die suddenly? In 1989, the National Center for Health Statistics reported a totalof 149 sudden deaths due to unknown causes in the age groups 5-14 years, or 4.2 deaths per million children per year. This is rare.

ADHD—THE DISEASE?


Stephanie had ADHD from 1st grade to 6th. Does it kill? Does it cause heart problems? Does it cause inattention? Impulsiveness? Hyperactivity? F’s? "Not paying attention in the a.m. Not completing work, not doing well in school; failing language arts, low test scores? (see 1970 Gallagher on LD’s ) Is it a real disease as claimed by psychiatry?

US psychiatry, child psychiatry, education, Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis, manufacturer of Ritalin) and Children & Adults with Attention Deficit Disorders (CHADD--financed and controlled by the Ciba-Geigy, just as psychiatry is financed and controlled by the pharmaceutical industry) have regaled us with images of brain science and chemistry for 18 years now, leading one and all, Stephanie’s parents included, to believe that ADHD is a real brain "disease"—a "chemical imbalance." Further, they tell us ADHD, once diagnosed, must be treated with Ritalin—to balance the "chemical imbalance." ADHD is to Ritalin as insulin is to diabetes, and as penicillin is to psneumonia, they would have us believe. The not-so-subtle difference is that diabetes and pneumonia are real diseases needing real treatments, while ADHD is an "invention"--a total, complete, fraud! Having no disease, there is no "treatment." What we have therefore, are millions of entirely normal children, just like Stephanie Hall, fraudulently diagnosed, then drugged, for profit, under the guise of "treatment."

Like most psychiatric disorders/diseases, ADHD was never discovered or validated by demonstration of a confirmatory physical (including chemical) abnormality. Rather, it was invented in-committee at the American Psychiatric Association in 1980 and has been revised, by vote or show of hands, on two occasions since, in 1987 and 1994.
In a 1995 review of the neuro-imaging (brain scan) literature on ADHD, researcher Monique Ernst lamented:
The definition of ADHD has changed over time. This change has contributed to the selection of research samples with differing clinical characteristics, making comparisons among studies difficult…samples of children with ADHD who were diagnosed according to DSM-III-R (1987) criteria include children who do not meet DSM-III (1980) criteria."
In the 50’s and 60’s they gave us "hyperactivity," and "hyperactive child syndrome;" in the 70’s minimal brain dysfunction"—"MBD;" in 1980 "attention deficit disorder"—"ADD" for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-III, (DSM-III); in 1987, the original conceptualization of ADHD for DSM-III-R and, in 1994, the ADHD, re-conceptualized, with it’s 4 sub-types for DSM-IV (1994). Each, they claimed, was a "disease," a "medical syndrome." Next, they made each invented "disease" the object of millions of dollars worth of biologic research, fraudulent on the face of it, because there was never a disease, and, because, no one of their "diseases" was comparable with another. (get quotes of "syndrome from 70). Although proving nothing at all, scientifically or medically, they, implanted the illusion in the public consciousness of a "disease"—ADHD--needing "treatment" and justification they needed to give stimulant, amphetamine medications to school children never proven to be other than normal. They spread a ever-wider marketplace "net," victimizing normal children by the millions.
Lest there be any doubt , consider the remarks of James M. Swanson, ADHD researcher and a member of CHADD’s Professional Advisory Board, at the March, 5-8, 1998 meeting of the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry:

I would like to have an objective diagnosis for the disorder (ADHD). Right now psychiatric diagnosis is completely subjective…We would like to have biological tests--a dream of psychiatry for many years.

This is a confession that no psychiatric illness or disorder—none of them--are real "diseases," like diabetes, epilepsy, stroke, etc. Yet still they claim otherwise and press, for parity for their "diseases" under the law, primarily for insurance and reimbursement procedures. The fact of the matter is, that psychiatrist rare, if ever, deal with real, actual diseases.

In a letter to me dated May 13, 1998 F. Xavier Castellanos of the NIMH states:

…I have noted your critiques of the diagnostic validity of ADHD. I agree that we have not yet met the burden of demonstrating the specific pathophysiology that we believe underlies this condition.

This too, is a clear, confession—the only direct answer, in writing, I have gotten from those at NIMH, in 5 years of a that ADHD is not a disease, a syndrome, or anything biologic or organic, and that children (and toddlers, adolescents and adults) said to have it are not abnormal. They are entirely normal and that is the crux of this momentous ethical and moral dilemma.

This being the case, there is no physical mechanism (pathogenesis) by which ADHD could have caused Stephanie Hall’s death.

Real diseases, like diabetes, stroke and rheumatic fever, are diagnosed by finding a ‘diagnostic,’ (confirmatory) physical or chemical abnormality upon physical exam, laboratory test, x-ray, scan or biopsy. No such abnormality has ever been proven in ADHD, and none was noted in Stephanie’s medical record, prior to her being starting on Ritalin. Only thereafter, did symptoms and signs develop, that were indicative of disease of the brain…and, terminally, of the heart.

Is it any wonder that the reality of US parents and grandparents everywhere has been so altered to no longer include normal, if "trying," "troublesome," "obstreperous," "impossible," "live-wire," "spoiled" "brats" that are bound to be the "death of us," but who, exactly as in days gone by, are our’s—and nobody else’s--to raise, "come hell or high water," not ours to drug into submission.

Do people die of ADHD? How could they? It doesn’t exist! The coroner knew this much. He knew their was no "ADHD brain," no "ADHD heart" or "ADHD liver." He knew there was nothing to test for either in life or death, to prove the existence of ADHD.

THE RITALIN INSERT

The Ritalin "insert" describes it as a "mild" central nervous system stimulant. They fail to tell you that Ritalin is dangerous and addictive—a drug of abuse, or that it is an ‘amphetamine.’ Such facts, are routinely said, by those in the ADHD ‘industry’ to be ‘myths.’ Like Dexedrine, Adderall, and Obetrol—all forms of amphetamine--like Desoxyn and Gradumet—prescription versions of ‘meth,’ methamphetamine, or ‘speed’--like cocaine, like Demerol, morphine and all of the opium derivatives--Ritalin is classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) as a "controlled", Schedule II drug.

Overdosage symptoms include vomiting, confusion, delirium, headache, tachycardia, palpitations, cardiac arrhythmia, high blood pressure. Incoordination--observed by Stephanie’s neurologist, and therefore, a ‘sign’ (not a symptom) of overdosage, does not appear on the insert. He considered her vomiting, headache and stomach ache to be symptoms of overdosage. At one time or another Stephanie manifested confusion, hallucinations, disorientation and incoordination, and—finally--cardiac arrhythmia, the presumed, likely, cause of death.

The ‘insert’ explains that for children 6 years and over—Stephanie’s age when she started-- the average dose of Ritalin is 20-30 mg daily with some requiring as much as 40-60 mg daily. The recommended, or target dose, for children, is said to be 0.3-0.6 mg/kg, that for adults 0.1-0.3 mg/kg. Stephanie’s dose was almost always in the in the vicinity of 1.0-1.6 mg/kg range—excessive. It was increased the day before she died.

STEPHANIE’S ENCEPHALOPATHY (BRAIN DYSFUNCTIONS)

Does ADHD cause confusion, disorientation ("spacey," "out of it, weird"), hallucinations (4-winged, red and blue angels from the 1st grade on) dissociative states, organic psychosis (bolting from day-care, running across a busy highway, not responding normally until she was miles away), Tourette’s syndrome (the emergence of wholly-out-of-character swearing), clumsiness, incoordination (denotes generalized or diffuse brain dysfunction) headaches, nausea and vomiting (side effects of Ritalin) in an otherwise normal 12-year old girl? Stephanie had none of these things before "coming down" with ADHD and "treatment" with Ritalin. Stephanie and her parents, like all families across the US, were lead to believe that ADHD was a brain "disease," a "chemical imbalance" and that treatment was imperative. They, and millions of others, were lead to believe that without Ritalin an education would be an impossibility. The Halls gave what they presumed was "informed consent" and went along with the "treatment"—Ritalin—5 years of it.

We can agree now that none of Stephanie’s encephalopathic symptoms (descriptions obtained by history--subjective) or signs ( abnormalities seen and documented by examiners—objective) were due to ADHD, for the simple reason that there is no such disease or syndrome as ADHD. It does not exist other than as a marketplace ploy.

Her only brain disease, it appears, was Ritalin poisoning--Ritalin "encephalo-pathy" (encephalon—brain, opathy--disease), verified by knowing she had Ritalin in her system; verifiable-- had any examiner sought to do it--by finding Ritalin in the body and body fluids—urine, blood and cerebro-spinal fluid. Whatever we might conclude about Stephanie’s "natural death," she had—it is abundantly clear-- been robbed of a "natural life."

RITALIN, PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS & THE HEART
What of Ritalin’s toxicity for the heart? Did the coroner consider that Ritalin might have caused Stephanie’s sudden death, her cardiac arrhythmia? That it might have contributed? Did he look at the extensive literature on Ritalin and other drugs in the amphetamine family and their commonplace cardiovascular effect? After all, the day prior to her death the dose of Ritalin had been increased. That morning seemed real weird, out of it. Her mother kept asking, that morning ‘Steph’ are you OK?’" "She kept saying ‘I’m OK Mom,’ ‘I’m OK.’ Did poor, drugged Stephanie, that last day of her life know what OK really was…what normal was…what it felt like.
As of 1993, there had been 4 sudden deaths associated with Norpramin (desipramine), a member of the family of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and a common alternative to Ritalin, in the treatment of ADHD. In 1995, Werry, of New Zealand, called for an embargo of desipramine in children, but was shouted down by Biederman, et al, of the Harvard-Massachusetts General Hospital, Pediatric Psychopharmacology Group. To date, desipramine- and other TCA-related, sudden, cardiac deaths have risen to16, most of them in normal children said by school teachers, to have ADHD.

As of May, 1996, there were 13 cases of liver failure leading to death or liver transplant from Cylert (pemoline), touted to be the "safest," of the stimulants.

Of 2,993 adverse reaction (AR) reports concerning "Ritalin" or "methylpenidate" listed by the FDA’s Division of Pharmacovigilance and Epidemiology (DPE), from 1990 to 1997, there were 160 deaths and 569 hospitalizations--36 of them life-threatening. One hundred twentysix (126) were cardiovascular occurrences, and 949 central or peripheral nervous system occurrences. There were 6 cases of "cardiomyopathy," 12 of "arrhythmia," 7 of "bradycardia," (slow pulse), 5 of "bundle branch block," (impairment of conduction apparatus of the heart), 4 of "EKG abnormality," 5 "extrasystole," (heart rhythm abnormalities), 3 "heart arrest," 2 heart failure, right," 10 "hypotension," (low BP), 1 "myocardial infarction," 15 "tachycardia" (rapid pulse).

While many of Ritalin’s cardiac side effects might be due to its action on the sympathetic nervous system, it may bind to and alter cellular architecture, leading to symptoms and signs that are secondary to actual structural damage.

Ritalin is known to cause cardiac arrhythmia, tachycardia and hypertension. Ritalin and other amphetamines can interfere with the body phospholipid (complex fat) chemistry causing the accumulation of abnormal membranes visible with an electron microscope. Such abnormalities were seen in an adult treated with Ritalin for 4 ½ years. A heart muscle biopsy was obtained during coronary bypass surgery. Fischer (1972) concluded: "Although the patient was exposed to a variety of different drugs, we feel the methylphenindate (Ritalin) should be considered as the incriminating factor since this agent is amphetamine-related."

Henderson & Fischer (1994) next exposed experimental mice and rats to MP (Ritalin), and found identical membrane proliferation to that in the patient described by Fischer (1972). Moreover, they found that "The MP (Ritalin) doses used in the experimental rodents fell within the range of therapeutic dosage prescribed for patients with attention deficit disorders (ADD/ADHD)."

Other such molecules include fenfluramine (Pondimin)—the ‘fen’ of ‘fen-phen’—the weight reduction compound found to cause heart valve defects, leading to it’s being withdrawn from the market. There have been reports of reversible cardiomyopathy with methamphetamine (Desoxyn, Gradumet); of cardiomyopathy with dextro-amphetamine (Dexedrine) ); of left ventricular failure following a single, i.v. dose of amphetamine, and of sudden reversible cardiomyopathy with fenfluramine (Pondimin) and mazindol (a weight loss drug).

In The Pathology of Drug Abuse, Karch writes: "Amphetamine’s adverse effects on the heart are well established …(sharing) common mechanisms with cocaine toxicity…cardiomyopathy seems to be a complication of amphetamine abuse more often than cocaine abuse…The clinical history in most of these cases is consistent with arrhythmic sudden death (as in Stephanie Hall). Reports of amphetamine-related sudden death were first published shortly after amphetamine became commercially available" (late 1930’s, about the same time Bradley discovered the paradoxical, calming effect of amphetamines that has lead to todays Ritalin epidemic).…Stimulant-related cardiomyopathy has occurred in association with amphetamine, methamphetamine…and methylphenidate (Ritalin)…In all cases there was acute onset of heart failure associated with decreased cardiac output…"

NOT A ‘NATURAL DEATH’ AT ALL

Stephanie’s death was called a ‘Natural death,’ by the coroner. It was not! Although entirely normal Stephanie was said to have a ‘disease’—ADHD. Without the illusion of a disease, they could not have legally drugged her. Stephanie never had a symptom or sign of a real, actual disease until the day Ritalin was begun.

The first element of the fraud was the representation of ADHD as a ‘disease’ when there has been no such proof—ever. By design, Stephanie and her parents would never be able to understand the true risk /benefit equation of ADHD and it’s treatment, whether with Ritalin, or any other drug, or treatment. As in virtually every case, across the nation, with ADHD portrayed as a ‘disease,’ when it is an ‘invention’—the ‘informed consent rights’ of Stephanie and her parents were trampled. Thus, Stephanie--herself, her parents, teachers, sisters, and all around her, were lead to believe that she was abnormal—‘diseased,’ So doing--and every bit as reprehensible as the ‘drugging’ to follow—they robbed this normal child of a natural life.

The second element of the fraud is the ‘in-unison’ claim of all in the ADHD ‘industry’ that Ritalin is ‘safe and non-addictive,’ pressed upon parents, everywhere. That this, too, is a intentional, misrepresentation is readily evident.. In a perversion of the Hippocratic-medical mission so complete as to be unthinkable, they have invented--contrived a ‘disease’ to have something for which to give a drug—all of it, for profit.

There is no other reason. See the picture of Stephanie—pretty, a young woman in bloom, normal, healthy, bright-with-promise, best reader in her class, loved, embodiment of the hopes and dreams of her parents. After the ‘diagnosis,’ after the ‘labeling’ she is no longer ‘normal’ in anyone’s eyes, not even her own. From the first day of Ritalin, on, she was no longer physically normal either. We have read of her confusion, hallucinations, incoordination—of the chemical assault on her brain and body in the name of ‘treatment.’ Then she was dead…not a ‘natural’ death at all.

Thank God that the outcome isn’t this tragic in most cases. Thank God most survive the ‘disease’ and the ‘treatment.’ But, it is past time for the parents of the nation to wake up to this unimaginable-unspeakable thing that is being done to 5 million entirely normal, if troubled, troublesome children in the US daily. Every one ‘diagnosed’ with this fraudulent, non-existent, invented ‘disease,’ is damaged. Every one on Ritalin, amphetamines, anti-depressants, or psychiatric drugs of any sort has a ‘chemical imbalance of the brain and body—an actual disease—their first.

The people who have given us ADD/ADHD as a ‘disease’ and Ritalin as ‘treatment’-- who deceive and defraud the parents to get them to drug their children--these are the people who killed Stephanie Hall. Stephanie’s death was no more a ‘natural’ death than her childhood or those of the millions on Ritalin, Dexedrine, Prozac, etc., etc., are ‘natural’ childhood’s.
As we depart the Stephanie Hall story and Stephanie--‘Steph’—we must take one more backward glance at her picture—so alive—and we must force ourselves, once again, to think the unthinkable—that that which was done to her is being done to millions of normal children in the US daily.
James M. Swanson and F.Xavier Castellanos, spokesmen for ADHD ‘research,’ spokesmen for the ADHD ‘industry,’ ‘think’ and ‘believe’ that some day in the future, they will validate ADHD as a disease. They "think" and "believe" they will validate it, when their fraudulent claims of "treating" a "disease" go back all of 35 years.
When are they going to prove that Stephanie has a disease, or the 5 million on Ritalin and tens and hundreds of thousands more each month and year? Real physicians are duty-bound to prove the existence of disease before they commence treatment. But it doesn’t stop those giving Ritalin. If no disease is present, treatment can only cause injury—or death. How many deaths, we will never know, because the reporting system

Original Artical: -Death By ADHD, Who Killed Stephanie Hall? (August, 1998)

Other Original Essays by this very knowledgeable and courageous Doctor:

ADHD CONSENSUS CONFERENCE WHAT THEY DIDN’T TELL THE COUNTRY (ADHD AS FRAUD)

-Baughman response to Barkley (Scientific American, September, 1998
-To Governor Pete Wilson on Parity for Mental Health (September, 1998)
-Ritalin for Infants and Toddlers on Medicaid (August, 1998
-Damages, Legal (August, 1998)
-Letter to Senator Bill Frist (August, 1998)
-To Sheila Anderson, President, CHADD (August, 1998)
-Public School = "At Risk" (October, 1997)
-Kip Kinkel’s Psychiatric "Diseases": What Role Did They Play? (June, 1998)
-To Sheila Anderson, President, CHADD (June, 1998)
-Baughman response to Report of AMA, Council on Scientific Affairs (April, 1998)
-Baughman response to Lancet (February, 1998)
-Correspondence: Peter S. Jensen, NIMH (September 14, 1998)
-The Fraud of Dyslexia (August 1997)
-Letter to Peter S. Jensen, MD, NIMH (December 1, 1997)
-Smoking is a Choice, not an Illness (November, 1997)
-Letter to Tennessee State Representative Tommie F Brown (November, 1997)
-"De-Fanging" the Food and Drug Administration (November, 1997)
-Psychiatric Fraud: Pronouncing "Disorders"-"Diseases" (October, 1997)
-ADHD: On The Role Of The Peer-Reviewed Medical Literature
-Crime Of The Century
-Dyslexia Propaganda
-Hamilton County (Tennessee) Ritalin Consumption High
-Letter From Dr. Castellanos
---Re: Letter From Dr. Castellanos
-NIH, AD/HD Consensus Conference—Inappropriate, Unnecessary
-The Fraud Of ADHD—Psychiatric History Repeating Itself
-The Totality Of The ADD/ADHD Fraud

You can visit his home page at:
http://home.att.net/~fred-alden/