"Hyperactive" Child Medicated to Death

This is an extremely sad story that only gets worse as more details emerge.  A four year old girl has died of a drug overdose.  The drugs were given to her by her own parents on the advice of a family doctor.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/...

The autopsy revealed that Rebecca Riley died of a lethal combination of drugs. The Rileys are accused of giving her too much Clonidine, a drug used to treat hyperactivity. When she was just 2 1/2 years old, a Boston psychiatrist diagnosed her with bi-polar disorder.

For anyone familar with BPD the first question would probably be, "how the hell do you recognize bi-polar disorder in a 2 year old?"  In this case the diagnosis was made largely on genetic predisposition.  Why was a diagnosis like this necessary?  Well there's the possiblity it was all for medical insurance...

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/...

Court documents indicated that Rebecca Riley was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in August 2004, when she was 2 ½-years-old. The diagnosis was based, in part, on a family history of mental illness -- her father, Michael Riley, is bipolar and her two siblings were also similarly diagnosed, court documents said.

Because the illness doesn't typically manifest itself until the late teens, Kelley said the diagnosis may have been made for insurance purposes.

"If there is a strong genetic loading, some doctors may say, 'Yeah, that looks like bipolar disorder.' And to get paid, doctors often times have to write down a diagnosis," Kelley said.

Whatever the reason, Kelley said Rebecca had to have been a very sick child to be prescribed the combination of Clonidine, Valproic acid or Depakote and Seroquel. Tylenol Plus was also found in her system at autopsy.

This family was not unfamiliar to Social Servicies.  The couple had two older children who were removed and are in foster care.  Both of those children have been treated by the same psychiatrist that diagnosed Rebecca.  Carolyn Riley was taking Paxil for depression and the children's father was diagnosed as bi-polar but not on medication.  At the time of Rebecca's death, almost 2 month ago now, he was not suppose to be in the home because he been accused of molesting one of the older children.

The poisoning occurred over several days, other adults noticed the child's extreme lethargy and were alarmed but did nothing.  The hospital, Tufts-New England Medical Center, is standing behind the doctor who is now being investigated.  Criminal charges may follow.

I cannot understand how anyone could not question a doctor who would diagnose a child this young as bi-polar and not even get a second opinion.  These were people of limited means and education.  I believe they were taken in by a system they trusted even though they did not fully understand it.  There's no indication yet if they understood the medications they were given and if what they did was deliberate or out of simple ingnorance.  

Perhaps as the parent of a child with behavior issues I may be too easy to sympathize with the parents.  I know first hand what a hyper child can do to your life, your marriage, your sanity.  Children with these issues need A LOT of constant attention. They take over your life and they are an extreme challenge for even the most patient and well educated.  I've spend hours on the internet doing research to try to be a better parent.  Much of the information is hard to understand for a college graduate, someone with limited education would be lost.  You would have no choice but to trust the "experts."

I did learn enough to know I needed help, a lot of help.  We hired a private Occupational Therapist to come to our home once a week for 2 hours.  We are lucky to have health care through my husbands employer but they only picked up 60% after a huge ANNUAL deductable so we've had to incur a big expense to get treatment.  Still it is worth every penny, maybe more for teaching me coping skills than helping my daugther.

Not only should the doctor in this case and the pharmacy be investigated.  Many more question need to be asked about the state D.S.S.'s role.  If Rebecca needed this much intensive medicating why was she still in the care of her mother when her older siblings with similar issues had been removed?   Did D.S.S know the specifics of the medications and question the mothers ablity to administer them?  Or was it just too expensive to provide in home O.T. so medication was used as the cheaper alternative?

UPDATE:  While I sympathize with the parents I want to make clear that I still think they are most responsible for her death and should go to jail.