Grandmother refuses to administer prescription medication to child with ADHD.

[rhos87]

What is the name of your state? Illinois
The Grandmother of my girlfriend's daughter refuses to give the child medication prescribed by her doctor. This child has been diagnosed with ADHD. The grandmother is a registered nurse and feels that the child does not need medication. Is there anything we can legally do to assure the medication is given the the child?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

What is the name of your state? Illinois
The Grandmother of my girlfriend's daughter refuses to give the child medication prescribed by her doctor. This child has been diagnosed with ADHD. The grandmother is a registered nurse and feels that the child does not need medication. Is there anything we can legally do to assure the medication is given the the child?

My response:

There is no "we" in the scenario. You can't do anything. If anybody is legally able to do anything, it's the mother of the child, period.

However, there's nothing "legal" that can be done. Grandmother is also considering her license to practice, and is not "authorized" to administer medications; e.g., if something "goes wrong", she is held to a "higher standard of care" and could be placing her license in jeopardy because she is NOT the parent, and could be held liable.

So, mother can either offer Grandmother a written authorization from the doctor, and a "hold harmless" agreement from Momma Bear, or simply put up with the current situation.

Or, perhaps, Grandmother simply doesn't want to administer the medication because she'd rather put up with the hyperactivity rather than seeing her grandchild act like a zombie robot while on the medication.

IAAL

 

[chatkat]

Had to say something

I find it funny that a parent is complaining that someone else won't medicate their child for ADHD. Not really funny in the HAHA sence, but ironic.

My husbands son is ADHD and his bio mom keeps him medicated like a Zombie year round. The only time he doesn't get his meds is during visitation with his dad (my husband) Bio mom says he doesn't take his meds on the weekends or during the summer so she has never given him his meds before a visit or sent his meds with him. In fact she is sure to pump him full of sugar before each visitation period. She is after all such a great mother. This as anyone can see is an atempt to "pay back dad for all his wrong doings" She will teach us to fight for visitation by making us deal with his ADHD unmedicated.
My husband worried in the beginning that his son was going on and off his meds, but have not been able to find a doctor to say that it is detrimental to his health to not take his meds for short period of time. As far as bio mom stating that she doesn't give him his meds when he is not in school, we have doctors records that state bio mom request that the persription be continued for the summer months.

Well, NEWS FLASH ! My step-son is healthier, happier without those meds. We set limits for him when he is in our home. There are times, that when we ask him why he did something he will say "cause I don't have my medicine" We tell him that is no excuse. He knows right from wrong and we expect him to act appropriately. My step-son is a normal active 10 year old who needs a parent to guide him, not drug him and set him down in front of the TV to keep him out of her hair.

I applaud Grandma.... If she is willing to teach him how to act appropriately with out meds, then good for her!!

Chat

 

[HomeGuru]

Yes, the old style of child rearing is the best.

 

[nextwife]

Yes it is, with children that were raised the old fashioned way from birth and do not suffer a chemical difference in the way their brain works.

However, there are studies of children, for example, who spent significant baby/toddler time in institution settings such as orphanages, that actually show a difference in brain function. There seems to be some evidence that neural connections are not developed the same way in children suffering that sort of neglect. A huge number of PI )post-institutionalized) kids are ADD/ADHD. This is not merely a behavior issue, but a neurologic difference. The ADHD meds for these children actually help compensate for the physiologic difference, and offer such children the ability to attend, control and actually learn. The med result is NOT zombi-ism, it is a compensation which balances the child into the same state as a child who is not ADD. ADD is not merely a lack of discipline, it is a difference in how the child's brain works. The ADD meds bring them the same ability to physically control movement and reaction that their non ADD peers already have. My daughter is a dynamo. Very bright, very active, and was very severly delayed (NO language development at age 2 when she came to us) and had extreme inability to attend- partially due to the impact of her PI beginnings. She is far from zombie-like on her ADD meds. The difference off-meds is severe in the classroom-she can't concentrate, she can't sit, she can't attend and she can't learn. And is very impulsive. The "discipline" she gets has nothing to do with it. If it were merely lack of discipline, being off-meds would make little difference in behavior- because she has recieved the same discipline.

Properly dosaged ADD meds to children is comparable to them as insulin is to a diabetic child. It is balancing out an imbalance in their system.

AS a matter of fact, my daughter was so severe off-meds that she was at first misdiagnosed as bipolar. She is on a very low dose of a timed release new generation of ADD meds called Adderall, and at 5 pm or so as the meds wear off, you can just SEE the difference in her. On-meds, she is not a zombie, she is a normal child. off meds shes nearly manic.

 

[rhos87]

Zombie?

I am not looking to make my child a zombie, I have reserched this and have recieved advice from many doctors, teachers and day care providers on this disorder. The medicine she is on is the lowest dose possible. I can handle the discipline just fine, However she is very disruptive in school to the other children. The school has given two her two weeks to show improvment or they will place her back into preschool. Mentally she is at the k level. Is it fare to deny her classmate equil attention by their teacher? What is so wrong giving medicine to help focus and calm a child who is abusive to other children? This medicine is not Ritalin.

 

[happynow]

These medicines are not to be taken lightly, and the last people you should listen to about them are teachers and day care providers, They only have one thing in mind, a calm quiet atmosphere. Too many children are being diagnosed by school authorities. Proper diagnosis can olny be done by trained physiologists. My son was "diagnosed" by his teacher and His mother convinced the family doctor he needed drugs. He was so medicated he became a zombie, had no personality. I couldn't get his doctor to adjust anything, because his mother and teachers said he is wonderfull now, stays quiet and still all day. His grades never improved, but he was a perfect student. I finally convinced his mother all he needed was some dicipline at her house, and things improved, that is after I told her I refused to pay for any more ritlin.

 

[Bigfoot]

rhos87, you didn't mention initially that the child is in school. Thank you, however, for saying that the medicine is not Ritalyn. Your friend should see what kind of assistance she can get from the principal's office or school nurse.