Council on Europe, chair irena 12 10 01 Dr. Irena Belohorska December 10, 2001
Chairman
Subcommittee on Health
Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee
Parliamentary Assembly
Council of Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
Dear Madam Chairman Belohorska,
It was a privilege to have had the opportunity to present “The case against diagnosis and treatment of ADHD and related disorders and their treatment with stimulants” to your Subcommittee. I hope I was clear and understandable in my presentation. This is not a matter of differing beliefs, but of what is proven, scientific, fact, and what is not. Further, it is a matter of demonstrating abnormality/disease, child-by-child before one ventures medical or surgical treatment in a single child.
Simply put, the 1980, DSM-III, version of ADD (attention deficit disorder) was never proved to have a confirming, demonstrable abnormality to make of it a disease, before it was changed, in 1987, by the American Psychiatric Association, to the DSM-III-R version of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). In turn, the 1987, DSM-III-R version of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was never proved to be a disease, before it was changed, in 1994, to the DSM-IV version of ADHD—that which reigns today—not in science, but in psycho-pharmaceutical propaganda and practice.
I was just perusing an essay on back pain. The headline read: “Unnecessary, ineffective, even harmful treatments abound.” Back pain differs from ADHD in that in some cases physical abnormalities underlie the back pain, while in ADHD, there is never a demonstrated, proved, physical cause/factor/variable. This being the case there is never a rationale for medical/pharmacological treatment—there is no abnormality to make normal or even more nearly normal. What results is the invariable psychological harm to the child of being lead to believe that their brain is abnormal/diseased, and of having their parents, teachers and all of the persons in their life being lead to believe they are abnormal/diseased, when they are not. And next, the invariable, in-every-child psychological damage is followed by the invariable, in-every-treated-child, physical damage that results both on the long- and short-term not only from the Ritalin/amphetamine class of drugs but from every single psychotropic drug.
The motion, “Ending the misdiagnosing of children by Gustofsson and others; Doc. 8727, 17, April, 2000, page 1, paragraph 4, states:
Observing that underpinning this wave of drug abuse is the psychiatric diagnosis Attention Deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which has no known cause, no scientific basis, and was literally voted into existence by the American Psychiatric Association in 1987, leading to millions of children the world over being erroneously prescribed powerful mind-altering and potentially addictive drugs like Ritalin;
Again, the drugs are not the issue. There is no such physical abnormality/disease/medical syndrome as ADHD. In paragraph 4 the truth of the matter is set forth: “the psychiatric diagnosis Attention Deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which has no known cause, no scientific basis, and was literally voted into existence by the American Psychiatric Association in 1987.”
Observe that when no physical abnormality/disease/medical syndrome has been verified, it is pointless or duplicitous to speak of it’s cause or absence thereof. It is a common semantic stratagem of theirs to speak of ‘the cause being unknown,’ when, all the while, they know no abnormality exists to have a cause.
Page 2, paragraph 5, states:
Noting that in 1996, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) asked Governments to “exercise utmost vigilance to prevent the over-diagnosing of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and its possible medically-unjustified treatment with Methylphenidate (Ritalin)”.
On June 7, 1996, I wrote to the International Narcotics Control Board, stating:
“I was pleased to know that the United Nations-International Narcotics Control Board has twice (that I know of ) written to U.S. officials expressing their concern about the sharp increase of use of Methylphenindate in the U.S...” “It appears that the INCB and this writer …share concerns regarding the incredible U.S.- greater-than-Canada (as nowhere else) ADHD epidemic as well as the burgeoning amounts of Methylphenindate and other schedule II stimulants being prescribed for it, quite as if it were an actual disease.” “Is it sound medical practice?.” “With no confirmation that so called Attention Deficit Disorder with or without Hyperactivity (ADD/ADHD) is a disease, a discrete diagnostic entity or anything organic or biologic, how can it possible be ‘sound medical practice’?”
On July 24, 1996, I again wrote Secretary Schaep asking that he send me the text pertaining to “sound medical practice.” This he did. From the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971, article 9, paragraph 2:
“The parties shall take measures to ensure that prescriptions for substances in schedules II, III, and IV, are issued in accordance with sound medical practice and subject to such regulation…particularly as to the number of times they may be refilled and the duration of their validity, as will protect the public health and welfare.”
In accordance with “sound medical practice” should include appropriate diagnosis, and then, full disclosure of pertinent facts for purposes of and informed consent. With ADHD never proven to be a disease but invariably, falsely, represented to be one—abrogating informed consent in every single case, this is anything but “sound medical practice.” I am convinced that the term “fraud” applies, and I have frequently made this charge, publicly.
It was my impression that the debate between and after the prepared remarks of presenters was more informative than the presentations themselves. For that reason I would very much appreciate receiving a transcript of the entire proceedings, start to close, if such can be made available.
I hereby enclose a video that I produced entitled “ADHD—Total, 100% Fraud.” It is made from the US government videotape of the November, 16-18, 1998, NIH, Consensus Conference on ADHD. Please feel free to duplicate it and share it with other members of your Subcommittee, or any interested party.
I am in the process of preparing a short picture book along the lines of the illustrations I projected at the end of my prepared remarks. When I have it put together I will send a copy along to you. In the meantime, I would be more than happy to take calls or e-mails from you or any member of the Subcommittee on this most important of issues.
Sincerely yours,
Fred A. Baughman, Jr., MD
1303 Hidden Mountain Drive
El Cajon, CA, USA 92019
phone 619 440 8236
fax 619 442 1932
drb@adhdfraud.com
cc Mrs. Ragnarsdottir
Mr. Brinzan
Mr. Newman