A MOTHER GRAPPLES WITH AN ADOPTION THAT LED TO DEATHS

It’s been nearly a year since Jennifer Hart drove her family, including at least five of her six adopted children, off a cliff to their deaths on the rocky shores of Mendocino County, California.

But for Tammy Scheurich, the pain is still fresh. Scheurich, the biological mother of Markis, Hannah, and Abigail Hart, learned about their deaths in October, more than six months after it happened. “Those are my children,” she said by phone the day after she heard the news. “This was not supposed to happen.”

More >> A MOTHER GRAPPLES WITH AN ADOPTION THAT LED TO DEATHS

Melissa Diegel Speaks Out

After being gagged and threatened, Melissa the mom of Kayla and Hannah Diegel Speaks out. Free the Sisters!

Chicago Children’s Hospital Takes Custody of 16-Year-Old Away from Parent Who Sought Second Opinion

Chicago Children’s Hospital Takes Custody of 16-Year-Old Away from Parent Who Sought Second Opinion

“Medical Child Abuse” is the Term Now Used to Legally Seize Children away from Parents

'Nobody loves that kid more than we do,' says mother accused of medical neglect for stopping son's cancer treatment

'Nobody loves that kid more than we do,' says mother accused of medical neglect for stopping son's cancer treatment

A mother accused of medical neglect for refusing to continue her son's chemotherapy treatments said Friday the law should protect parents' rights to make medical decisions for their children.

Adopted, then handed to abusers: Convicted of neglect, cruel couple who loaned girls to paedophiles after duping social workers

Adopted, then handed to abusers: Convicted of neglect, cruel couple who loaned girls to paedophiles after duping social workers

A couple who adopted two young girls and let two paedophiles subject them to horrific sexual abuse were yesterday convicted of child neglect.

Idaho Parents Take Boise Hospital to Court Over Newborn's Forced Spinal Tap

Idaho Parents Take Boise Hospital to Court Over Newborn's Forced Spinal Tap

An Idaho couple's lawsuit pitting them against a Boise hospital that ordered spinal tap on their newborn against their wishes could lead to a revised look at parents' federal right to govern their child's medical care.

Eric and Corissa Mueller have waited six years to get their say in court and allege that their constitutional rights as parents were violated simply because they preferred not to let a doctor stick a needle in their 5-week-old daughter's spine without more information.

But in Idaho, as in many other states, the state can seize a child in a hospital setting if authorities believe the child is being neglected or abused. In the Mueller's case, child protection services was called on a medical neglect accusation when Corissa Mueller declined the spinal tap on baby Taige against their doctor's recommendation.

Note: Interesting.

Dead foster child 'had excellent prospect of recovery'

Dead foster child 'had excellent prospect of recovery'

An orthopaedic surgeon has told the Northern Territory Supreme Court that a foster child would have had an excellent prospect of recovery had she received medical treatment a week before her death.

Nate

Dear All

In January of 2007, Nate Tseglin, a 17 year old boy diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, was handcuffed and forcibly removed from the home of his loving and caring parents in Irvine, California by Child Protective Services. His parents had not abused him, but simply decided not to administer psychotropic drugs to the boy for his mildly autistic symptoms (scratching his arms) because they had previously triggered seizers in Nate. The state called this reasonable health decision 'medical neglect'.

Subsequent to his removal, he was placed in an institution and forcibly drugged. His seizures returned and his health and functioning have deteriorated dramatically to the point of multiple hospitalizations. Nate is no longer the boy who spoke many languages and functioned well in his home and his community. His family fears that the damage done to Nate may be permanent.

Parents from across the United States, as well as internationally, are appalled by the violence of Child Support Services, who have clearly overstepped their bounds, and by Nate's horrible treatment at the Fairview Development Facility. We demand that the injustices that Nate and his family have suffered be corrected immediately and that Nate and his family are restored their right to self determination.

Our Children belong to us. Let Nate go home now!

Sign the petition
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/getnatehome/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CPS_Awareness_Project/

Mother Sentenced in Foster Son's Death Prepares for Release

Mother Sentenced in Foster Son's Death Prepares for Release

A Seabeck woman sentenced Friday in the manslaughter of her foster son will soon be freed following 18 months' incarceration.

Kimberly Ann Forder, 45, was given 27 months in prison by Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Sally F. Olsen a week following her guilty plea to second-degree manslaughter.

Psychiatric Malpractice

Note: Here is a really good article I found in an article directory. Although it doesn't specifically mention Foster Care or Foster Children, a very high percentage of foster children are medicated unnecessarily on heavy doses of Psychiatric Drugs with little or no consequences to those who prescribe them. Parents dealing with CPS are often ordered to take psychiatric medications as a part of their service plan, and the schools often demand that a child be medicated or the family can risk a report being made to CPS.

So I decided to include this article here.

LK
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Psychiatric Malpractice
By Patricia Woloch

Victims of psychiatric malpractice face a difficult battle. Mental health care patients are vulnerable to negligence and wrongdoing by the very nature of their condition. When the do speak up about mistreatment, their complaints are often dismissed or ignored.

Patients with a history of emotional instability, impaired judgment, or erratic behavior are easily taken advantage of by the mental health system. Due to the stigma of mental illness, those capable of speaking up for themselves often lack the courage, feeling that no one will believe their claims.

Psychiatric malpractice is a very real form of medical malpractice, which can have devastating mental, emotional, and physical consequences. Psychiatric malpractice can be deadly. It should never be ignored.

Informed Consent
Mental health care patients have the legal right to be informed of the risks and benefits of undergoing or choosing not to undergo a treatment. Just like any other type of patient, they have the right to refuse!

Unfortunately, many patients, their loved ones, and the general public are under the impression that the right of informed consent does not apply to mental health patients.

What constitutes psychiatric malpractice?
Mental health care providers have a duty to treat their patients with dignity, provide adequate care, and prevent harm. Unsuccessful does not in and of itself constitute malpractice. Psychiatric malpractice includes:
· Failure to diagnose
· Failure to treat
· Failure to recognize worsening of condition
· Negligent psychotherapy
· Abandonment
· Negligent or harmful use of medications
· Failure to monitor medications
· Lack of informed consent for medications, therapeutic technique, or procedure
· Emotional manipulation
· Fraud
· Breach of confidentiality
· Defamation
· False imprisonment (including inappropriate restraint)
· Physical abuse
· Sexual Misconduct
· Failure to prevent harm to self or others
· Inadequate supervision
· Wrongful death

Medication errors
Mental health care providers have a duty to prescribe appropriate medications, in appropriate doses. The medications prescribed for psychological disorders can be dangerous, causing severe physical and emotional side effects. Many of these drugs are even more dangerous if a patient suddenly stops taking them. Doctors have a duty to inform patients of the side effects of the drugs that they are prescribed and the dangers of ceasing medication.

In some cases doctors have been misinformed by drug companies, about the medications they are prescribing. Even worse, they may not have been told about dangerous side effects that were known to the drug makers, such as suicidal behavior. Drug manufacturers will often try to claim that the deadly results were caused by the mental illness rather than the medication.

When patients are harmed by defective medications the responsibility normally falls on the drug makers, rather than the doctor who prescribed the drug. Then it becomes a product liability suit instead of a medical malpractice suit.

Taking actionYou do not need to know which kind of lawsuit you have in order to take action. If you feel that you or a loved one has been the victim of psychiatric malpractice, you should talk to an attorney who has experience with these kinds of cases. Your attorney will investigate, determine what type of case you have, and advise you on the best course of action.

Contact a qualified attorney in your area by visiting The Personal Injury Lawyers Directory

8-YEAR BATTLE

8-YEAR BATTLE

When his kidneys failed in the hospital, social workers accused Hoffman, now 58, of medical neglect and took the child she'd been raising into another foster home. The allegation was so serious the district attorney's office filed felony criminal charges.