ABLECHILD: 1970 Hearing Reveals ADHD as Government-Funded Drug Experiment on Children
September 26, 2024 by Jim Hoth
In 1970 a lawmaker wanted to know if the federal government had a hand in drugging school-age children that largely has today remained an unspoken, well-funded, uncontrolled clinical drug trial.
September 29, 1970, New Jersey Congressman Cornelis E. Gallagher held a hearing into the federal government’s role in promoting the use of amphetamines and Ritalin as behavior modification of grammar school children.
Fifty-four years later, AbleChild applauds Representative Gallagher for presiding over the House Special Studies Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations investigation as it was one of the first hearings to draw attention to the government’s funding of experimental drug research using school-age children.
Gallagher wanted to know from the experts how it was okay to drug children with amphetamines and Ritalin to modify behavior in school, while at the same time pushing an active national campaign against drug abuse stating that “speed kills.”
The Congressman was concerned about whether the drug therapy being used by the child would become a permanent part of the child’s school record, thus years later negatively impacting the child’s life.
And, finally, the Congressman raised concerns “about the mislabeling of the child and packaging an ill-conceived program as an answer to our ills in the education of our children.”
At the time of the 1970 hearing, researchers were then labeling hyperactive children with Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MDA), then renaming it as Hyperkinetic disorder (HKD) or Hyperkinesis and finally settling on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
At the time of the hearing, none of the experts testifying could provide any scientific data proving the alleged brain abnormality existed.
Still, fifty-four years later, there is no science to prove the alleged brain abnormality ADHD exists.
Ironically, one of the experts that testified at 1970 hearing warned that the drug therapy would “zoom” from its then usage in approximately 200 to 300 thousand American children.
The prophecy was fulfilled. In 2020 alone, 9,585,203 Americans were taking some form of psychiatric mind-altering drug as “treatment” for the alleged ADHD.
Almost four and a half million Americans between the ages of 0 and 24 alone were prescribed ADHD drugs in 2020.
The “experts” testifying before Gallagher’s subcommittee were as clueless then as the “experts” are today when it comes to any understanding of how the drugs worked as “treatment.”
For example, Dr. Ronald Lipman testified during the 1970 hearing that “I think there are many gaps in our present knowledge. I don’t think we know as much about the neurological mechanisms underlying the action of these drugs as we might.”
If Lipman were being honest, he would have admitted that the “experts” then, like today, simply did not know how the drugs “work” as “treatment” for the alleged MDA, Hyperkinesis or ADHD.
After all, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which approves drugs for use, the mode of action for Ritalin (methylphenidate) still, fifty-four years later, “is unclear.”
The same is true for amphetamines as the FDA reports “the exact mechanism of amphetamines as a class is not known.”
But the real threat came from the parents of children who provided testimony about the coercion and harassment experienced at the hands of school officials to have their children referred or recruited into a drug program.
The issue, as explained by those testifying, was that this kind of coercion on the part of school officials became a kind of uncontrolled drug experiment.
Again, moving forward, nothing has changed in fifty-four years, only accelerated. Gallagher reported during the hearing that the federal government had appropriated $3 million in grants for mental health research in 1970.
A funding amount that today would be referred to as budget dust.
But the funding increased exponentially and, as of 2020, the federal government spends an estimated $280 billion annually on mental health services.
And, like those raising concerns back in 1970 about schools becoming involved in the drugging of children to modify behavior, the same concerns are being raised today.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act will dump hundreds of millions of dollars into School-based mental health, including implementing, enhancing, and expanding school-based mental health programs. Reading, writing, and drugging.
These school-based mental health programs were exactly what Congressman Gallagher feared would happen if federal mental health funding was left unchecked.
The only difference is that fifty-four years after Gallagher’s insightful hearing, parents and students are not necessarily coerced or harassed into participating in a drug experiment but, rather, are joyfully encouraged to take advantage of the services freely provided by government funding.
Either way, children who participate in this new school-based mental health scheme still are part of an uncontrolled drug experiment paid for by federal funding.
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One 'patient' brought it all out, "Little Jimmy can't function without his Ritalin but can play 16 hours straight video games with Doritos and Coke for an energy supply."
Ritalin was being prescribe in the 1950's and marketed by Ciba. A young man working as a clerk in a drugstore as well as I, told me he was taking his father's Ritalin, because he wanted to be just like him. Never understood at that time how detrimental it is to children growing up. I was reminded when I meet him as an adult working in a clothing store. His features were grotesque because the Ritalin had overstimulated his long bones in his growth stage. Fast forward to the early 1990's and Ciba's marketing push was so successful to have physicians prescribe Ritalin for children's behavior issues rather than a spanking, they under estimated the production estimates and by December of each year they were out of stock! As they got negative publicity they changed their name from Ciba to Novartis.
My book review on SSRI's follows: Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher is an exploration into the dark side of mental illness. Gwen Olsen is brave enough and angry enough to welcome the reader into her world of emotional trauma caused by drugs, alcohol and genetics.
Gwen weaves her stories of personal tragedies and the use of prescription mind controlling drugs that she sold into a shocking review of how drugs are used not to cure, but to control those with emotional and social behavior problems without any real concern about the potential deadly side effects. Drug marketing trumps good medicine.
The impetus for an insider to reject a financially rewarding career in pharmaceutical sales is the fiery self-immolation death of her bright, beautiful and beloved niece Megan.
Her extensive research into deadly events caused by mind altering prescription drugs brings into reality the gravity of the medical decision to prescribe a treatment routine that doesn't explore ways to reverse the medical condition.
The following quote by Dr. Candace Perth, the co-discover of the SSRI pathway which was the impetus for the creation of the multi-billion dollar SSRI class of mind altering drugs is a chilling statement.
"I am alarmed at the monster that John Hopkins neuroscientist, Solomon Snyder and I created when we discovered the simple binding assay for drug receptors 25 years ago."
Anyone who is or has a loved one taking these prescription drugs will be compelled to read Gwen's Saga and detailed investigation into this twilight world of drugging.
Only by knowing the truth can we change course and improve the quality of healthcare in the United States. Gwen helps us focus on a critical area of needed improvement and pleads for us to save our children from drugging.