It gave me great sadness to read of the story of an 18-year-old young adult with mild autism who died after being given olanzapine (an antipsychotic drug for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder). He did not have any of those disorders, and his parents expressly forbid the use of olanzapine as they knew of the potential serious harm that it would cause their son. An independent review has since concluded that his death was potentially avoidable.
Oliver McGowan’s parents stated that that their son’s death was down to the arrogance of doctors, and maintained that their decision to not allow the use of the drug was the result of a previous negative reaction to the drug. They also believe that had the antipsychotic drug not been administered to their son, he would still be alive today.
The reason I am writing about this case is because of my own personal experience of dealing with the questionable practices of some health professionals that I dealt with when working with young vulnerable children and their families. What I witnessed in many of my cases was the impotence of the parents as they had unquestionable faith in the system, and this was due to their lacking understanding of their children’s condition and needs.
The following anecdote highlights this:
Arthur was born into a poor but loving household, was intelligent and had a heart of gold, and overall had a warm personality. He also happened to have ADHD, and lived with his devoted single father who had a mild learning difficulty. Arthur was prescribed Ritalin for his everyday use.
I worked with him and his family for about a year, tackling low school achievement, absenteeism and antisocial behaviour prevention, and it’s important to note that Arthur did not have any additional health issues apart from ADHD. The big issue, however, was that his medication was negatively affecting his sleep, and instead of stopping its use, he was given even more medication to help sort this out.
The effects were detrimental.
Not only did Arthur have big changes in his temperature, but he also felt that his head was exploding, and he began to overeat a lot. The medication also led to changes with his personality, the commencement of anger issues, and a lack of emotional control. This then resulted in Arthur joining the wrong crowd outside of school, and he would often be put in danger as a result.
The young boy rejected his medication ferociously, however, taking it was fully enforced at school and by his well-intentioned father at home.
I researched all the information I could on the side effects of Ritalin and organised a meeting with the medical practitioner that diagnosed and did check-ups with the young boy.
I went to the meeting with Arthur and his father and advocated on their behalf.
I was full of hope as the facts were clear: this child, otherwise in a good state of health, was suffering from the effects of a prescribed medication that was clearly harming him. Surely something could be done.
I had gathered a list of his behavioural and physical symptoms that were collated from what I had observed in our regular meetings, notes and input from his school SENCO (who shared my concerns), from his father and most importantly from the child himself.
This was recorded meticulously in written form and matched with what the medical literature stated about the side effects of Ritalin and its dangers.
In the meeting it seemed that our presence was tolerated by the medical practitioner in a patronising way. I was allowed to speak and present the mentioned list. Our concerns were totally ignored. Nothing was refuted nor any rationale explained.
After the meeting the state of things medical wise continued as before.
Arthur’s school attendance plummeted, his behaviour became more challenging and he got himself involved more and more in acts of antisocial behaviour. Eventually he was excluded from mainstream education. He had finally fallen through the net. I understood clearly what impotency feels like.
I remember this boy and his father with affection and sadness. The consequences of this disappointing outcome meant that Arthur’s chances of a healthy, safe and prosperous life were substantially if not totally diminished.
Names and certain details of the case have been changed to protect the young person.
Leave a Comment