AR-News: Drug mimics child abuse

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http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1136319,00.html

The Observer. 1 February 2004.
Child abuse probe uncovers deadly role of axed drug: Calls
for inquiry after cisapride linked to 136 deaths.
By Jamie Doward, social affairs editor.

A drug linked to more than 100 deaths is being blamed for a
series of gross miscarriages of justice that have seen
hundreds of parents wrongly accused of child abuse.
A conference drawing together psychologists, social workers
and scientists will hear evidence this week that a drug
called cisapride - used to treat digestive problems and now
withdrawn from the UK market - has resulted in hundreds of
cases of wrong diagnosis.
Experts will claim the drug is known to interrupt the
rhythm
of the heart, causing some youngsters to turn pale and
experience breathing difficulties. Campaigners say the
symptoms have prompted doctors to wrongly accuse parents of
trying to smother their children.  The revelation will
raise
further questions about the validity of the controversial
condition Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) - first
theorised in 1977 by paediatrician Professor Sir Roy Meadow
- which suggests some parents harm their children to draw
attention to themselves.
Critics of MSBP, which has been discredited following a
series of court cases, fear it blinds social workers,
lawyers and judges to other explanations for apparent child
abuse, such as the side effects of drugs or the symptons
associated with a number of illnesses.  The conference, at
Sydney University in Australia, aims to debunk MSBPand is
set to attract worldwide attention. It will hear calls for
a
full investigation into cisapride, which was withdrawn in
the US and the UK three years ago after it was linked to
136
deaths worldwide, including those of two British children.
'Given the amount of cases where cisapride has played a
significant part in the child's treatment and the child's
parents have been diagnosed as having MSBP, it is
imperative
the Government launches an investigation into this drug,'
said Penny Mellor an anti-MSBP campaigner.
The Government said last month that it is to investigate
more than 250 criminal cases in which a parent had been
convicted of murdering a child. The decision was taken
after
a series of overturned convictions.  Sally Clark was freed
after spending three years in jail for killing her two
children. Trupti Patel was acquitted of smothering her
three
babies. Angela Cannings, jailed for killing her two sons,
was released by the Court of Appeal last December.
The Government is also planning to ask local authorities to
examine up to 5,000 cases in which children were taken from
their parents in the civil courts and in which MSBP may
have
been cited. Authorities in the US, Canada, Australia and
New
Zealand, are also under pressure to examine cases in which
parents were separated from their children following the
diagnosis of MSBP.
The first civil cases involving parents who claim they were
wrongly separated from their children as a result of MSBP,
are currently being prepared for appeal.  Meadow and
another
paediatrician who has advanced the MSBP theory, Professor
David Southall, are now the subjects of separate inquiries
by the General Medical Council. The Observer has also
learnt
that there are at least four other experts in the field of
MSBP whose work is now likely to be scrutinised by the
health authorities.
Since The Observer highlighted the allegation that MSBP was
responsible for a series of miscarriages of justice last
week, numerous other cases where the parents claim they
have
been wrongly separated from their child have come to light.
In one case in Hampshire, a mother accused of MSBP was
separated from her two seriously ill twins but allowed to
keep her other two children. The twins were eventually put
into care and the mother was forced to give the other two
children up for adoption. She subsequently emigrated to New
Zealand where she alleges British social services contacted
counterparts there with the result that two other children
she had with another partner ended up being taken into
care.
Her case is one of the first that is expected to be
appealed
this year.
Janssen Pharmaceutica, makers of cisapride, declined to
comment.

VIN Note:  Janssen were also involved in the Propulsid atrocities (1998) in 
which a drug known to kill children was deliberately marketed via child 
health organisations.


Animal experiments have:
a 63% failure rate when detecting human carcinogens
a 75-95% failure rate for detecting drug side effects
a 70% failure rate for detecting drugs which cause birth defects
Success rates lower than those achieved by uneducated guesswork.

This is not science!!



Recommended website: The Absurdity of vivisection
http://vivisection-absurd.org.uk/

Information on animal research available free by EMail from 
vivisectionkills at hotmail.com

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the wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. he is in front of it - axel munthe

"Never doubt that a small group of dedicated citizens can change the world. 
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."      Margaret Mead
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