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News & Views - Aug,
2000 Issue (page 2)
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Page 2 of 2 - Previous
COURT DENIES PARENT’S ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH RECORDS
(July 8, 2000) The Houston Chronicle, contained a story that according
to a Texas Supreme Court on a 7-2 decision, “Parents don’t have a right to see their children’s mental health records if a psychologist
decides such access might harm the youngsters.” One Judge in dissent said the majority was continuing to erode “the rights of parents
to raise and care for their children.” Writing for the majority, another Judge stated “Parents cannot always be deemed to be acting
on the child’s behalf.” The attorney for the psychologist who had appealed a lower court’s decision said “It’s an important case for
the mental health professional. It protects the integrity of the child’s relationship with a metal health professional.”
IMPROVEMENT, PROBLEMS WITH US KIDS
(July 14, 2000) The Associated Press reported a study done by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics,
who had collected data from “20 federal agencies on the health, education, economic and education trends among America’s 70.2 million
children under the age of 18.” They concluded that the recent statistics of the leading indicators show that American kids “are healthier,
better fed, less likely to live in poverty and more likely to survive to adulthood than ever before.” The study also shows “that U.S.
kids drink too much, smoke too often and more than a quarter of high school seniors are using drugs.”
NATIONAL VIEWERS AND LISTENERS ASSOC. OF AUSTRALIA
(July 22, 2000) Paul Hotchkin, Secretary of the National Viewers and Listeners Association of Australia, hotchkinp@one.net.au,
recently contacted Woodbury Reports about his organization. This media advocacy group for children is concerned that much of the images
and lessons modern media presents can be harmful to children.
225,000 IATROGENIC DEATHS ESTIMATE
(July 26, 2000) Barbara Starfield, MD, wrote an article titled “Is US Health Really the Best in the World?” that appeared
in the Journal of the American Medical Society, in which Starfield reviewed the data and literature used to measure the quality of
health care in the US. Her review reported an estimated 225,000 deaths in the US per year from medical, physician and medication effects
(iatrogenic causes) . She points out that this “constitutes the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from
heart disease and cancer.” The full article can be found here.
MOMS ARE GIRLS ROLE MODEL
(August 1, 2000) A survey conducted last May by the National
Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board found that “92 percent of girls ages 7 to 17 say their mom is their primary role model, particularly
when it comes to eating healthy and drinking plenty of milk.”
FDA APPROVES ADHD DRUG
(August 3, 2000) The Associated Press reported the “Federal Food and Drug Administration had approved Concerta for
the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.” The advantage of this new drug is that it is time- released, lasting 12
hours, thus eliminating “the stigma of taking a drug in school and the problems of getting to the school nurse or interrupting after-school
programs or practice.” “In clinical trials the most common side effects were headaches, reported by 14 percent of patients. Less common
were upper respiratory tract infection and stomachache.”
Copyright © 2000, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced without prior
approval if the copyright notice and proper publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
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