Wisconsin:
My husband and I are totally devastated. We took legal guardianship at age 7 of our nephew and discovered later on that he had ADD and reactive attachment disorder. Many problems later, a psychiatrist diagnosed clinical depresion and he was treated with different antidepressants, none which seemed to do much good. Finally, he turned 14...the magic age at which he could direct his own psychological well-being (a joke in my estimation) and he decided after this last episode of cutting and inpatient stay that he would accept treatment with Wellbutrin XL. I was not crazy about him being on ANY medication because I just wanted to see what my "son" was like without chemical interference, but we knew that he had the last call. He liked the progress he felt on the Wellbutrin, so he stayed with it and when the dr. increased his dosage from 150mg to 300 mg per day after he came back from camp (because he dropped the stimulant and dr. was afraid that 150 mg. alone would not be enough), he seemed to be cruising along nicely. My son always spoke of things in "future" tense, even up to and including the night before he died by suicide. On September 27th, he came home from school, from all accounts as normal a day as every day and something snapped in him. He jumped from a radio tower near the house 75 feet and died instantly. His tox screen came back today showing only a therapeutic level of Wellbutrin XL. Up to this point, ever since last December, there had been no episodes of treatment for setbacks, no talk of wanting to hurt himself, no suicidal gestures, nothing. He wasn't acting in any way suicidal. We are just beside ourselves and the only thing we can wonder is if the medication finally made him snap. I was with my son during each of his appointments and at no point did the doctor suggest that this medication carried with it the famous black box warning or that it was not FDA approved for children under 18. All we got were the side effects, that as usual, because it was used as an antidepressant in his case it woudl have a risk for suicide and that as usual to watch for changes and report them and that there were no studies shown to prove that it helped with ADD. I was floored when I found that out.that the risk for suicide was so high in the younger kids. I understand that my son would probably have taken it anyway because he felt so good. But, where does the liability lie with the psychiatrist? I just don't feel that at 14 or 15 a child with so many psychological issues has the capability to direct their care. My head is just swollen with tears and I just need understanding.
My husband and I are totally devastated. We took legal guardianship at age 7 of our nephew and discovered later on that he had ADD and reactive attachment disorder. Many problems later, a psychiatrist diagnosed clinical depresion and he was treated with different antidepressants, none which seemed to do much good. Finally, he turned 14...the magic age at which he could direct his own psychological well-being (a joke in my estimation) and he decided after this last episode of cutting and inpatient stay that he would accept treatment with Wellbutrin XL. I was not crazy about him being on ANY medication because I just wanted to see what my "son" was like without chemical interference, but we knew that he had the last call. He liked the progress he felt on the Wellbutrin, so he stayed with it and when the dr. increased his dosage from 150mg to 300 mg per day after he came back from camp (because he dropped the stimulant and dr. was afraid that 150 mg. alone would not be enough), he seemed to be cruising along nicely. My son always spoke of things in "future" tense, even up to and including the night before he died by suicide. On September 27th, he came home from school, from all accounts as normal a day as every day and something snapped in him. He jumped from a radio tower near the house 75 feet and died instantly. His tox screen came back today showing only a therapeutic level of Wellbutrin XL. Up to this point, ever since last December, there had been no episodes of treatment for setbacks, no talk of wanting to hurt himself, no suicidal gestures, nothing. He wasn't acting in any way suicidal. We are just beside ourselves and the only thing we can wonder is if the medication finally made him snap. I was with my son during each of his appointments and at no point did the doctor suggest that this medication carried with it the famous black box warning or that it was not FDA approved for children under 18. All we got were the side effects, that as usual, because it was used as an antidepressant in his case it woudl have a risk for suicide and that as usual to watch for changes and report them and that there were no studies shown to prove that it helped with ADD. I was floored when I found that out.that the risk for suicide was so high in the younger kids. I understand that my son would probably have taken it anyway because he felt so good. But, where does the liability lie with the psychiatrist? I just don't feel that at 14 or 15 a child with so many psychological issues has the capability to direct their care. My head is just swollen with tears and I just need understanding.