Psychiatric Illegal Drugs Spawn Child Suicide

Another tragedy from illegal drugs given to children.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

After 7-year-old's suicide, officials order look at drug use of other Florida foster children

MARGATE - In the aftermath of 7-year-old Gabriel Myers' suicide, state child welfare officials will review the case files of every foster child in Florida to see how many are on mind-altering drugs.

The head of the Department of Children & Families also took the rare step Wednesday of appointing a panel to examine the circumstances surrounding Gabriel's death. The child hanged himself April 16 with a shower hose in the bathroom of his Margate foster home.

"It is difficult for any of us to comprehend how a child so young could have deliberately and consciously made the decision to end his life," DCF Secretary George Sheldon said. "But in order to help prevent this type of tragedy from happening again, it is critical we review all available information to determine the factors that led to Gabriel's death."

Four weeks before his suicide, Gabriel was prescribed Symbyax, which is a combination of the generic forms of the anti-depressant Prozac and the anti-psychosis drug Zyprexa. He already had been taking Vyvanse, a drug to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Sheldon has asked his agency to examine how many of the more than 20,000 foster children in Florida are taking psychotropic drugs. A DCF study in 2005 concluded that one in every four foster children was on a mood-altering drug.

Child advocates in the state have long criticized what they have described as the rampant use of psychotropic drugs on foster children.

"One of our concerns is that they use the medications as 'chemical restraint' and not as a medication to treat a disease or condition," said Andrea Moore, executive director of Florida's Children First.

Child welfare records released last week indicate Gabriel started taking Symbyax even though there apparently was no court order in place. Under Florida law, parental consent or a judge's order is needed before a foster child can be administered a psychotropic drug.

"We need to develop a refined protocol for the use of these types of drugs in our children," Sheldon said. "I want to ensure that prescription drugs of this nature are used appropriately, always under medical and judicial supervision and with consultation with DCF staff."

To delve into Gabriel's death, Sheldon appointed a five-member panel to be led by Jim Sewell, a former assistant commissioner with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Jon Myers, Gabriel's uncle, said he hopes that something good will come out of DCF's actions.

"We realize (child welfare officials) have a tough job and the idea is that they learn from this and pass some laws which are in the best interest of the children," Myers said. ________________________________________________________________

Miami Herald

State probes apparent suicide of foster child, 7

A work group has been appointed to investigate factors leading up to a 7-year-old foster child's apparent suicide.

Florida's top child-welfare administrator has appointed a work group to look into the April 16 death of Gabriel Myers, the 7-year-old boy who took his own life at a Broward County foster home after a stormy nine-month odyssey through the state foster-care system.At the top of the priority list for Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon will be an examination of the state's reliance on psychiatric drugs for children in state care.

`CHEMICAL RESTRAINTS'

The issue has troubled the department since the early 2000s, when a Broward child advocate claimed the drugs were being used as ''chemical restraints'' on unruly children.

Sheldon has asked administrators to begin reviewing the files of 2,200 children, or about seven percent of those in state care, to determine precisely which medications the children are being administered, he said. Gabriel, who was originally from Ohio, had been prescribed a handful of mind-altering drugs in his final months, DCF has said.

"I have serious concerns about a 7-year-old on the number of medications he was on," Sheldon said. "Because DCF acts as the parent for foster kids," Sheldon said, "the agency must ensure that children are being administered only the medications they truly need."

"It is difficult for any of us to comprehend how a child so young could have deliberately and consciously made the decision to end his life," Sheldon said. 'But in order to help prevent this type of tragedy from happening again, it is critical we review all available information to determine the factors that led to Gabriel's death.'

Overseeing the work will be Jim Sewell, a former deputy commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who has been working with Sheldon in recent months. Sheldon said he expects the review to be thorough, and he hopes Sewell's law enforcement background will help the team dig deeply into the boy's troubled past.

Gabriel came into state care in June when his mother was found nearly unconscious in a car with the boy in a Denny's parking lot. Inside the car were several prescription drugs, including Xanax. Reports said Candace Myers had dozed so deeply she did not notice that officers had taken the boy.

BOUNCED AROUND

In coming months, Gabriel lived with a maternal uncle, then moved to a foster home, and then to another home in Margate, and through it all his condition worsened. On April 16, he got into a squabble with the 19-year-old son of his foster father, announced his intention to kill himself, and then hanged himself from a detachable metal shower cord.

Sheldon said he also will ask the work group to study the state's handling of children who have been the victims of sexual abuse, and who then go on to seek other victims. Records show Gabriel had been molested by an older boy in Ohio, and had begun to act out sexually among other children. _________________________________________________________________

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