Is it legal to deny your child medication?
My friend has been diagnosed with depression but her parents are all "no pills, the government is out to get you", but she wants them. (I know I would) She is still a minor and the government says we are to "niave" and "foolish" to make decisions like that, but 99% of people take anti-depressants if they are depressed. Can she override her parents in any way? If not do you think this law needs to be revisited?
Answers:
No, unfortunately her parents have every right to deny her the meds. Sad, huh? I once read about a woman who was murdered by her son. He was schizophrenic but they were scientologists so she was told to treat him with vitamins. Your friend will have to wait until age 18, be supportive!
Yes.
She does not need to take the pills because they will HURT YOU. Yes, the government is out to get us. It isn't just some paranoia problem.
As far as I know in some cases you can deny your kids medication.
Your friend could try to file a case of neglect against her parents.
the law should remain this way because otherwise, there will be depressed kids taking these pills frequently and eventually overdose on them.
the choice should still remain on the parent. she needs to convince her parents about letting her take them. if she can't do that, maybe you and her other friends could step in and make the parents realise how much she needs them. state some examples of her behavior that could be helped by these tablets.
I am curious to know where you get this "99% of people take anti-depressants if they are depressed" from. That percentage is way way too high. There are thousands if not millions of unmedicated mental health patients out there.
If she disagrees with her parent's opinion, and the pills are medically subscribed, her parents can get in trouble.
All your friend has to do is probably call the doctor and tell him or her that she wants the pills, but her parents won't let her.
This will go to your local child protective services division, who may end up putting the parents in front of a judge.
EDIT:
There are some wacky answers above me. A medically prescribed medicine is just that. It's for the benefit of the patient. Where do you people get off making decisions on health care for others?
For all we know, the kid might be bipolar or something, where medicine is the only thing that will help her function.
If she is under 18 then yes her parents make the medical decisions for her. She could speak with child protective services and see if they might be able to help her, but I think it really depends on how depressed she is. If it is just mild she might want to wait a while and see if it might resolve, but if she is tempted to hurt herself or another she needs to call and see if CPS can help.
well i mean i can kind of understand her parents i mean by no means am i saying depressions not a big deal but you cant always go running to a pill or the easy way out i don't know what are the circumstances of her depression are but there is counseling and other alternatives but either way i wish her good luck
Back in the early 80s my aunt and uncle Bible Thumpers (nothing against all Christians) were against going to the doctor. They let their kid DIE at home. The child only had pneumonia, he cold have easily been saved and survived.
Yes, there have been cases where kids or maybe even the hospitals have went beyond the parents wishes. Generally it takes going to court and all that good crap. In this case though, since its not really a life and death situation i dont know if she can do much about it.
Why does popping a pill solve anything.
Most anti-depression pills usually causes more problems down the road. Like suicide.
Everybody has downs. Everybody deals with issues. Her parents are right.
Read up on Prozac.
I denied my kids antidepressant medication because of the severely negative reactions my husband and I had had to them. I got in trouble, all right! A CPS worker came after me and threatened me. But in the end I got my way; after all, I was only trying to protect my kids.
Here is an informative site:
http://www.ablechild.org
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