A question of ethics... ARGUMENTATION PURPORTING THAT THE LONG-TERM COMPULSORY USE OF RITALIN BY CHILDREN VIOLATES ANTI-NAZI LAW: The Nuremberg Code was written to protect All People from the types of crimes against humanity committed by the Nazi regime. The Nuremberg Code states that in medical experimentation "voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential." The Code also states that such consent must be obtained "without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over- reaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion..." [1] Let's observe how the long-term use of Ritalin by children (given to millions of kids to make them more obedient in school) can violate the Nuremberg Code: LONG-TERM RITALIN SAFETY & EFFICACY IN CHILDREN IS STILL EXPERIMENTAL The manufacturer of Ritalin (Novartis) states in their current package insert: "Sufficient data on safety and efficacy of long-term use of Ritalin in children are not yet available. ... Long-term effects of Ritalin in children have not been well established." (1998) This means that long-term use of Ritalin in children is still in the experimental stage and conforms to the definition of "medical experiment": a tentative medical procedure. Furthermore, data is gathered by the FDA on adverse effects of approved drugs in order to monitor for potential health hazards, which constitutes an ongoing drug experiment in which all drug-using patients are subjects, which is a major part of the long-term data. Long-term use in children is also ALWAYS a test, or experiment, per child to see if Ritalin continues to suppress or begins to cause other forms of harm to the child. (Research suggests that long-term Ritalin use could be associated with brain atrophy, psychiatric disorders, and stunted growth. It should also be noted that in medical research the phrase "long-term" can mean anywhere from three weeks to three years.) RITALIN USE BY KIDS IS INHERENTLY COERCIVE As Peter Breggin, MD, has established, [2] many-to-most children don't like and don't want to take Ritalin. This indicates that children are being coerced to take Ritalin. Even if a child offers no resistance, the conditions for obtaining consent stipulated in the Nuremberg Code can still be violated by the very nature of a child's powerless subordination to the rule of adults, which clearly constitutes an "element of force." (An aside: the Nuremberg Code also states that a subject must "have legal capacity to give consent," which no child has). ERGO: since long-term Ritalin use by children is experimental, and since it always will be experimental for each individual, if Ritalin use by a child is coerced, however subtle that coercion may be, this constitutes involuntary human experimentation that is a violation of the Nuremburg Code, and as such, it constitutes a crime against humanity. Millions of children in US schools are likely victims of such Nazism. _________________________________________________ [1] The Nuremberg Code (see requirement number 1): http://www.med.nus.edu.sg/phar/sgcpp/nuremburg.htm [2] "Talking Back To Ritalin," Peter Breggin, MD. See chapter 5 "'They Never Like The Medication'" http://www.breggin.com/prbbooks.html or library Side Effects of Ritalin Everyone Should Know: http://www.breggin.com/ritalinbkexcerpt.html This article on Ritalin will be posted here: http://www.erols.com/igoddard/nazi-rit.htm ------ copyright 1999 Ian Williams Goddard ------ ------------------------------------------------------------ GODDARD'S JOURNAL: http://www.erols.com/igoddard/journal.htm ____________________________________________________________
