"Records obtained by The Miami Herald show Gabriel may have been molested by an older boy while he was living with grandparents in Ohio, while his mother was in jail." ????? WTF????


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Broward child's suicide raises questions about medication

A Broward foster child who killed himself last week had been prescribed powerful psychiatric drugs, some of which the FDA does not approve for children.

BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com







Weeks before his death, Gabriel Myers, the 7-year-old Broward boy who hanged himself in the shower of his foster home, had been prescribed a powerful mind-altering drug linked by federal regulators to an increased risk of suicide in children.

In all, Gabriel had been prescribed four psychiatric drugs, two or three of which he was taking at the time of his death, said Jack Moss, Broward chief of the state Department of Children & Families. Moss said he is not sure which medications the boy was taking because Margate police took the foster home's medication log as part of an investigation into Gabriel's death last week.

Three of the psychotropic drugs carry U.S. Food and Drug Administration ''black box'' label warnings for children's safety, the strongest advisory the federal agency issues. Three of the medications are not approved for use with young children, though they are widely prescribed to youngsters ''off label'' -- meaning doctors can prescribe the drug even if not formally approved for that use.

In 2005 -- reacting to a series of stories in The Miami Herald that as many as one in four foster children were prescribed potentially dangerous mind-altering drugs -- state lawmakers approved a law aimed at curbing their use. Children's advocates now question whether the law is being ignored.

Gabriel was being treated by a Broward psychiatrist who is on a list of Florida doctors that the state Agency for Health Care Administration red-flagged as having ''problematic'' prescribing practices, said Robert Constantine, director of AHCA's Medicaid Drug Therapy Management Program, which tracks prescribing of psychiatric drugs to children.

The list flags doctors with a high volume of pre>

Seven years old? SEVEN??? WTF?

Complete and Utter Negligence!

The fact that he was fine when off drugs is just another example of adults not wanting to bother dealing with children and drugging them as the answer.

Hell my son could easily be doped up on ADHD drugs and what not, but it's not what he needs. He's 8 and acts like an 8 year old.

Someone's head needs to roll in this case. I'd start with the doctor whose been red-flagged!

Hi all.

A real tragic loss, another victim of someones sexual pleasure.

A beautiful boy lost forever.

May his soul rest in peace.

Heal well my brothers/friends.

Pete (Irishmoose)

What bothers me the most about this is the idea of all problems can be solved by drugs is so prevalent in the foster care system. I know most of my kids are on 2-6 different medications when they come to live with me. You get a doctor who spends maybe 10 minutes in the exam room with you an then just write the refill orders for months.

How many more children must pay the price before there is change?

lots of love, Nathan

That poor little boy never stood a chance. I've at one point or another been on most of the medication described, and even as an adult the results were almost catastrophic. Whoever did that to him should rot in HELL! At least no-one can hurt him anymore. My heart shatters at the thought that he could see no other way out. Rest at peace little man. You are in gods hands now.

Yeah, drugs are not the answer. I feel there have been many wrong turns with the medical profession as a whole, and not just America but Britain too, it has become a business not focused on patient care but on cost and filled with complacency and a culture of lazyness (in my humble opinion), it is not what it suppose to be, and somebody needs to take the reins of the forever spiralling service.

Nathan/KT(lewis)...

I am saddened by the lost potential and that as a society we failed this young fella :-(

I believe that much of what ails humanity is the dulture of disassociation that is oh so prevalent... Too often I have heard myself say "somebody ought to..." or "there should be a law..." and I have come to believe that my self rightous indignation is me distancing myself from "it". I work to catch myself disassociating and ask the question "what can I do" knowing that any action of positive support, no matter how small, is helping to solve the problem. If all I do is share my thoughts with a fellow human I am contributing, and if each individual takes an action toward improving thier piece of humanity then we will all benefit.

With Love in my heart.

May our young Brother rest peacefully knowing that each is doing what each can to make this world a little be better.

Love Wes