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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Celtic Angel on February 3, 2004, at 1:56:01
Recently my 8 year old step son was placed on Adderal without the consent of his father (my husband). He has 50% legal custody. The mother has the children during the week and we have the children on the weekends. We were not informed until after the doctor had prescribed it. Neither of us feel this child is truly ADHD and he certainly does not need medication. He does have some minor behavior problems but is most likely the result of all the changes in his life... parents divorced, both remarried, his mother is about is about to have a baby.. etc. Anyways.. my main question is the legality of prescribing a medication such as Adderal to a child without the consent of both parents, we were not even involved in any questionaires or consulted by the doctor as to his behavior when he is with us... also, what can we do about this? We are very concerned and very upset that he is being medicated but we also feel very helpless because we are not sure what we can do.
Posted by Bill LL on February 3, 2004, at 9:01:41
In reply to Legality of medicating children in a split family, posted by Celtic Angel on February 3, 2004, at 1:56:01
I can certainly understand your frustration. Unfortunately, I don't know the legal answer to your question. My gut feeling would be that unless you can find a different doctor to examine the boy and say that he does not need Adderall, then you probably would not have a case to take him off of it.
The good thing about Adderall (and Ritalin) is that it is very fast acting. Therefore you can generally tell very fast if it is working. Hopefully, he will feel better, interact with friends better, and do better in school. Calling his teacher is a very good idea for your husband to do. If however, he does not get better, then your husband will need to do something.
Posted by Celtic Angel on February 3, 2004, at 19:33:51
In reply to Re: Legality of medicating children in a split family, posted by Bill LL on February 3, 2004, at 9:01:41
Well then it just becomes one doc against the other. We want to know if we have any legal legs to stand on or if we have to sit back and watch as this child is medicated when he doesn't need to be.
Posted by socialdeviantjeff on February 4, 2004, at 1:51:28
In reply to Re: Legality of medicating children in a split family » Bill LL, posted by Celtic Angel on February 3, 2004, at 19:33:51
It depends entirely on the state you live in and the custody arrangement. I live in UT and we have joint custody, so my ex can't make a controversial move without my say-so.
Nobody like to hear this, but whatever the custody split is, you may want to involve an attorney just to know what your rights are. Consultations are usually free, at least here. The local Bar association can be a good help too.
COming from personal childhood experience, IMO it's imperative to get a second opinion before starting ADD meds, especially if a GP made the dx.
Best of luck.
Posted by Celtic Angel on February 4, 2004, at 2:30:08
In reply to Re: Legality of medicating children in a split family, posted by socialdeviantjeff on February 4, 2004, at 1:51:28
Thank you for your input. I will definately look into calling the Bar Association. We live in California and I'm pretty sure that they would have to have informed consent from both parents since there is 50% legal custody. Unfortunately the medication has already been started but he's only been taking it for a week now so hopefully we can get that second opinion and get him off of it before any real damage is done.
Posted by socialdeviantjeff on February 4, 2004, at 21:17:53
In reply to Re: Legality of medicating children in a split family » socialdeviantjeff, posted by Celtic Angel on February 4, 2004, at 2:30:08
I hope it works out for you. My Email is socialdeviantjeff@yahoo.com. I've been on both sides of these issues so if you want to talk, feel free.
Posted by mamasarah on September 29, 2004, at 11:51:29
In reply to Legality of medicating children in a split family, posted by Celtic Angel on February 3, 2004, at 1:56:01
OMG. When I read your post it was like reading my own story. Only my step-son is only 6 and his psycho b**** mom had him put on atypical antipsychotics. DO NOT let her do this. Contact the doctor yourself (well, he'll have to do it) and let him/her know what is going on. Believe me the doctor will not want to be in the middle of this. Tell the doctor that you have 50% custody and in California the doctor cannot prescribe medication without the consent of both parents. I'm not sure how well your husband gets along with the mother, but we ended up having to go back to court. In fact, this is actually still going on right now. That's actually how I found your post, by doing a google search. Anyway, tell this doctor that you want to be informed of every single thing that is going on in your (his) son's medical care. Tell him that you want to be informed of any and all appointments made and do your best to be present at all of the appointments, you have a right to be there. I know how much it sucks, but you may have to go back to court. What county is the case in? How far away do you live from the mother? Write me back and let me know what is going on. Let me know if you have any more questions. I am going through the same thing and I am willing to help you out as best as I can. We got my son off the anti psycotics, but now she is doctor shopping and taking him to different doctors and lying to them to get him put on more meds. He is now on Prozac and we are working with the doctor to get him weaned off. We now have a court order that says if she does it one more time she loses custody to us. Trust me, you don't have to put up with this. Don't let her dope up your son just because she can't deal with him. Put up a fight. He's worth it.
Sarah
Posted by celtic angel on September 30, 2004, at 19:47:27
In reply to Re: Legality of medicating children in a split family » Celtic Angel, posted by mamasarah on September 29, 2004, at 11:51:29
Sarah ~ Thanx so much for your post. We have so far been lucky and have gotten him off the medication. We took him to another doctor and got a second opinion then my husband went to the prescribing doctor and had a meeting with her. She took him off the medication but suggested we take him to the psychologist. The psychologist is pro medication but so far he has not been able to justify putting him back on the meds. In fact, with the new school year, we got soooo lucky and my step son has the most wonderful teacher. It has made a world of difference. He doesn't have any problems in the classroom. The teacher he had last year just wanted all the kids to act perfectly and I think she would have loved it if all the kids in the room were sedated. We also worked with my step son over the summer when we had him and we watched him mature quite a bit. Had he been on the medication I don't think he'd have progressed. I'm glad that the court is on your side and I almost hope that the mother does lose custody just so he can be in a more positive environment. We are in El Dorado County and we live about 20 mins from the mother. I wish you the best and keep me up to date on how things turn out!!
Posted by mamasarah on October 8, 2004, at 15:01:09
In reply to Re: Legality of medicating children in a split family, posted by celtic angel on September 30, 2004, at 19:47:27
You are so lucky that you live close. We are about 2 and a half hours away so it is very easy for her to do things behind our backs. The thing that sucks about changing custody is that the court has to give her chances to change. Even though we have given her plenty of chances it has not yet been documented by the court. Now that it has been documented by the court and the mediator has seen how she is, it will be easier to get custody when she screws up again (and it's just a matter of time). The other thing with living so far away is that the court is more reluctant to change custody even though now would be the perfect time to do it as he has been here most of the summer. The longer they wait the harder it will be. I just hope they open their eyes soon and see what she's doing to him. Well, at least it's been documented by the court and she can only screw up one more time. It just sucks that my son is suffering each day he is with her. There is not really any way to prove emotional abuse is going on. Sometimes I just feel like screaming. We can hope that one of these days she'll call us and tell us to come pick him up because she can't handle him anymore when he's not medicated. Did anyone see that Dr. Phil episode that was on the other day about parents medicating their children. That first story about the kid who's mom couldn't control him, but he acted fine with the dad and at school, but the mom was convinced that there was something wrong with the kid and just wanted him to be medicated all the time. That's just like our story. Dr. Phil was like "do you think this might be a parenting issue". I'm like duh. Check it out a Dr. Phil.com. Anyway, I'm rambling. I'll keep you posted.
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