'They Use It Like Candy' - How the Prescription of Psychotropic Drugs to State-Involved Children Violates International Law

Brooklyn Journal of International Law, Vol. 35, pp. 454-513, 2010

62 Pages Posted: 13 Oct 2010

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: 2010

Abstract

The prescription of psychotropic drugs to children in the United States has reached epidemic proportions. Children in state foster care systems and juvenile prisons are particularly at risk of overmedication with psychotropic drugs. On any given day up to 50% of children in some state foster care systems and juvenile prisons are administered psychotropic drugs, often without documentation or medical justification supporting their use and under conditions that constitute egregious departures from sound medical practice.

The 1971 United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances established an international monitoring and control system to protect the public - including children in state custody - from dangers associated with psychotropic drugs. Despite the United States signing this treaty, this Article concludes that the government has violated international law in three significant ways: by failing to prohibit direct-to-consumer advertising in direct violation of the Convention’s explicit prohibition of advertising, by failing to ensure that the drugs are prescribed for legitimate “medical purposes” only, rather than used for non-medical conditions, such as chemical restraints for state-involved children, and by failing to administer psychotropic drugs in accordance with sound medical practices.

These violations have resulted in the unconscionable rise in unwarranted prescription and inappropriate administration of psychotropic drugs to children in state foster care systems and juvenile prisons in the U.S. This Article calls on the United States government to implement regulations and other appropriate measures to ensure compliance with its international legal obligation to protect state-involved children from non-medically-justified administration of psychotropic drugs.

Keywords: Foster Care, Juvenile Facilities, Children, Health, Psychotropic Drugs, International Law

Suggested Citation

Burton, Angela Olivia, 'They Use It Like Candy' - How the Prescription of Psychotropic Drugs to State-Involved Children Violates International Law (2010). Brooklyn Journal of International Law, Vol. 35, pp. 454-513, 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1691142

Angela Olivia Burton (Contact Author)

Independent ( email )

Albany, NY 12208
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
232
Abstract Views
1,444
Rank
113,465
PlumX Metrics