My opinion/experience

[annefan]

I recall awhile back that someone posted an inquiry on the boards concerning a custodial parent placing the minor child(ren) on medications for ADHD without informing the non-custodial parent and whether or not the non-custodial parent could do anything legally about it.

My husband has joint legal custody of his children. In August, the mother had the boys tested and placed on Concertive (a derrivative of Ritalin), without consulting with him first. Without going into details, the boys never experienced problematic symptoms while with us, which would warrant the necessity of these drugs. Based on that, and the fact that there was no second medical opinion performed, my husband was against the idea. (We found out about the medication through the children). My husband wrote a letter to the Neurology office indicating his objections to the treatment and included documentation regarding joint legal custody from the court. We just received a copy of a letter sent to the mother from the doctor indicating that after consultation with their attorneys, treatment must cease immediately unless the mother obtains further order from the court or a signed agreement from both parents that such treatment can be continued.

I'm just relaying this for anyone who is encountering a similar experience, and note that it's a worthy idea to try before having to go the Contempt of Court route.

 

[droper]

hello,, the post that you were speaking of was probably me.. i have 2 stepsons,ages 11 and 12. that are currently on 40 mg of adderall and 40 mg of methadate.. i wish we had done something like your hubby had done.. but instead when we found out that the boys were being medicated, we just showed up at the docs office for the next appointment, stated our opinion, told the doc of the side effects the med was causing,, of course bm says that oh they are doing fine , no side effects, its really helping with school... anyway the doc finally got tired of us coming over there causing problems and refused to see them,, in turn bm took us back to court, the court decided that they needed a second opinion, so we took them to another doc.. this doc is the same way, wont listen to us,, agrees with bm , listens to her,, she denies any side effects, the 11 yr old has terrible headaches, she tries to blame it on sinus, she has had an mri done, nothing showed up.. does bm really think that 40 mg of methadate has nothing to do with it,..gosh!! in their court order they have joint custody, it states both parents must discuss the health, welfare, education of the children.. any suggestions please let me know.. is it too late for a letter,, or should we just let it go??? the last doc appointment we didnt get informed of it so we were not there. of course bm said she told us, but she didnt.

 

[annefan]

Does your husband's custody order specify that he has "joint" LEGAL custody? Parties can share legal custody with only one having primary physical and the other having partial custody (meaning custody for certain times such as weekends, etc.). If he does maintain joint or shared legal custody with the mother, then he can write a letter (certified, return receipt) to the doctor's office indicating his concerns and the fact that he was not in agreement with the mother regarding this treatment. Kindly inform them that if the they do not immediately discontinue treatment, while you obtain your own doctor's medical opinion, then you will commence legal action. Be sure to cite the court order and include a copy of such. This maneuver alone could likely motivate the doctor's office to step back, considering the possibility of libel. The Neurology office which my husband dealt with stated to the mother that "due to shared legal custody of the minor children, we cannot treat them if you request it, unless it is a life and death situation".

All that said, you mention that your issue was brought back before the court and the ordered second opinion was performed and found to be the same as original doctor's diagnosis. You may have more difficulty pursuing this then. However, I don't think that a letter to the doctor would hurt.

40 mg of any methadone product seems excessive to me for children under 12. Of course, I am not a pharmacist, but I have researched these medications and my stepsons were originally placed on 18 mg of Adderal and subsequently changed to 18 mg of Concertive. The 12 year old experienced severe headaches and vision problems. When the mother took him to the doctor for this, it was diagnosed to be migraine. Funny though, the boys have now been weaned from those medications for about a month and they haven't experienced any side effects at all.

Good luck in your pursuit for the health, happiness and well-being of your children.

 

[droper]

thanks for your response, i think the only thing it says in their custody agreement is joint custody,, i will look again to be sure.. can if only be just joint custody?? i know i have learned there are many different kinds,, i do know that it states in the agreement that both parent must discuss the health, welfare, and education of the children,, i also have done a lot of research on these medications, the 11 yr old is the one that has the severe headaches, he mostly has them on mondays, he is off the medication from sat, sun, and back on mon. he has also experienced blurred vision, we took him to the eye doc. but his eyes were fine,, we definitely think that its the medication, it the summer both boys are off the meds,, he has no headaches.. the 12 yr old has tics, his eye will twitch so bad that he will have to take his hand and hold it down... is very moody, cries easiey , when the doctor is told about these problems, bm denies it, and the boys will too.. i think they are afraid of their bm, and will do anything she says or tells them to do.. just recently we found out that bm was telling the 11 yr old not to eat anything at our hse in the afternoons (we get him afterschool to help with homework). he was upset one day and went outside, i was cooking supper, hubby went outside with him to find out what was wrong, he told him that his mom would get really mad if he ate and that he was starved... don t really know how to handle the situation with the doc.. we have just about given up trying to do anything,, we just figured that the whold situation was out of our control... being that she was the custodial parent... someone told me once that the cp had control of things like that... another question,, the bm gets these meds filled like clockwork,, once a month, the boys do not take the meds on weekends and they are not supposed to take them on holidays (who knows when they are with her) but she should have plenty left over,, wonder whats happening to the rest of the medications...? also they have a new med that is not a stimulant now we have thought about calling the doc . and asking about that..

 

[annefan]

You have experienced a myriad of problems, and I don't know where to begin, but I will make a suggestion.

It appears that the children are experiencing some of the more severe side effects of attention deficit medication. What I would do if I were your husband is this:

Research and locate doctors in your area who specialize in Behavioral Health and ask for referrals to specialists in side effects from amphetamine mixed salts. Once you locate a doctor who would be impartial to this issue, schedule an appointment and have the children checked. If, indeed, the medication is unwarranted, or if they are experiencing the rare, but severe, side effects, a checkup by this alternate doctor could be what you need to dispute the issue further.

 

[droper]

we live in a fairly small town in nc, any suggestions on how you would go about finding a doctor like that??? the doctors that they have been going to are phyciatrics, the one they go to now, tries to say that a lot of children that come from divorced families have add. these boys are normal, they are not hyperactive, they do good in school as long as they get the help and supervision that any child needs. thanks for helping.. we have almost come to the end of the rope, didnt know what else to do but give up on it. and maybe in hopes that when the boys get older they will not want to take the medicine, but i think they like to take it because their mom tells them it will make them learn quicker and it makes them get along with each other... the only scary thing is will this medication have permenant effects on them? something bm doesnt consider.

 

[stealth2]

Of course, I am not a pharmacist, but I have researched these medications and my stepsons were originally placed on 18 mg of Adderal and subsequently changed to 18 mg of Concertive.

Uuummm I hope your research also made you realize that the name of the medication you're speaking of is Concerta. There is no med named Concertive.

 

[annefan]

First consider health insurance coverage. If your husband provides this, contact the health insurance company and inquire about a referral to a Neurologist that specializes in behavioral health. Some HMOs and PPOs, however, require a person to be seen by the primary doctor first and then obtain a referral to a specialist.

If the specialist is not covered under any health insurance plan, then the choice of doctors is entirely yours. The cost for such services would be absorbed entirely by you and your husband. Well worth it, if it is in the best interest of the child(ren). If you need recommendations on where to locate a Neurologist/specialist, simply contact your local hospital, they will be able to direct you.

 

[annefan]

Uuummm I hope your research also made you realize that the name of the medication you're speaking of is Concerta. There is no med named Concertive.

Funny then, they mislabeled the bottle, because I have two at home that say Concertive 18 mg...perhaps generic?

 

[stealth2]

I would actually ask the Pharmacist. Because I have a feeling that it's mislabelled - and tho perhaps not a problem here, it could be for other meds. Someone needs to know that there's something not right. I would have expected Concertive to come up if it was a generic. Does it tell you who the manufacturer is?

 

[annefan]

I will post the manufacturer when I get home later. From my understanding through the children, the mother obtained the meds directly from the Neurology group, either given as samples (on a consistent basic for a few months) or saving her from having to pay for scripts. My husband's prescription insurer has not noted on the account that any of the meds they took were reimbursed by them.

This particular Neurology group is located in an office campus where they have a host of medical departments in one location, a pharmacy as well, I'm sure.

 

[droper]

the bm is supposed to carry insurance, she does but recently her insurance has gone up to a 2000 dollar deductable, we also carry insurance on the boys, she has been using ours. under the court orders she is responsible for carrying insurance.. we will try to call the insurance and see what docs are covered by our insurance... we usually have to go to an outside area for this.. i have personally never heard of concertive, only concerta either, the 11 yr old was on it for a while, until they changed it to methadate ( a form of ritalin). but it could be a generic.. we are just afraid that since we have already been to court and they suggested another doc. that if we go ahead and take them to another doc.. it will open up another can of worms, something we have no control over... on the other hand we are also afraid of what this med is doing to the kids, i have done a lot of research on these meds, if you really dont need them, they could be really dangerous... we also wonder what is happening to the meds that are left over at the end of the month..

 

[annefan]

My sister informed me once that people sell them on the street to middle school kids at her daughter's school. I've read something in the news about this also. Sort of a 'black market'

 

[droper]

yeah we know, i figured up how many pill she would have left at the end of the month. at the end of this month she will have 32 left of each adderall and the methadate. we suspect that she gives the boys the med when they are with her, even when they are not in school... last month she would have had 26 left. thats minusing the ones for holidays and weekends.. she had the scrip filled on 11-21-02 , we figure it is about time for another bill where she has had them filled again. when you ask the boys if they take the med when they are with their mom, they will deny it and act like they are scared to say.. they know we dont approve of it, maybe thats why i dont know, once when they were at the doc the 12 yr old admitted that the med caused him to have tics, with no effect on the doc. the next time they went to the doc. he wouldnt say anything at all... i wonder what the doc would say if he knew the meds were being filled just as soon as the month is up? would he not care about that either??

 

[droper]

oops i was wrong that would be 32 in all both methadate and adderall, in other words 16 in the adderall and 16 in the methadate. didnt want to confuse anyone