“More than 8% of children in foster care have received antipsychotic medication, and just over one quarter of those in foster care who also receive disability benefits take these drugs, according to a recent studyin the journal Pediatrics… 
 
The numbers suggest that the influence of pharmaceutical company marketing cannot be overlooked…
All of the major manufacturers of these drugs have been fined by the Food and Drug Administration for illegal marketing practices – in part, for marketing the drugs for unapproved use in children – with some convicted of criminal charges…
 The new study by dosReis and colleagues included records of more than 600,000 children enrolled in Medicaid in 2003, including those in foster care, those receiving disability benefits for mental diagnoses, and those on the welfare program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Overall, nearly 3% of all youth on Medicaid received at least one prescription for an antipsychotic medication that year…”
 Read more:
http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/29/why-are-so-many-foster-care-children-taking-antipsychotics/#ixzz1fCgJ1LmO
 MORE: Study: Antipsychotics Show No Benefit for Treating Veterans’ PTSD
http://healthland.time.com/2011/08/03/study-antipsychotic-drugs-show-no-benefit-for-veterans-ptsd/
 MORE: Drugging the Vulnerable: Atypical Antipsychotics in Children and the Elderly
http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/26/why-children-and-the-elderly-are-so-drugged-up-on-antipsychotics/
 Action Alert: Locate your state Senators and let them know that Florida’s Foster Care children deserve the right to non-psychiatric, alternative treatments. Per the Florida Statute on Informed Consent.
 
To locate your State Senators:   http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find