TeenScreen Keeps its Locations Secret

Some may wonder just why the TeenScreen program keeps its locations a secret from parents. Maybe because they don't want the parents to know when and where their children will be screened. Also, it may be that the directors don't want the public to get hip to their schemes.

According to TeenScreen's director, Leslie McGuire, TeenScreen is fearful there will be an uprising against mental health screening (quite correctly), therefore TeenScreen refuses to divulge their locations. At any rate, see what one of the directors of the TeenScreen program once said:

"We generally don't divulge that information. Some sites want to share where they are and they want to connect people but generally we don't make that list public and that's so that they don't get swamped with lots of questions from people — you know — instead of coming to us where this is our job and we're paid to do that and it's also so they don't get targeted by some of these anti-screening groups."

Listen to her statement here: Leslie McGuire Speaks

Is there really a need for mental health screening?

Some would say that there is a dire need to screen America's teens for mental illness, but when all aspects of the issue are examined, there are more risks than benefits. For the sake of the argument, the TeenScreen program has been widely proclaimed as a breakthrough method of tracking down mental illness before it gets out of hand. But what is it really? As discussed in previous articles on this site, the TeenScreen project is nothing more than a scheme by the pharmaceutical companies to cash in on America's hardworking families.

The tests are given by computers, not humans specializing in mental health, and there is a false positive rate of well over 90%! When a child receives a false positive result, he or she is labeled as "Mentally Ill" and are immediately put onto psychiatric drugs like Zoloft, Paxil, Xanax, and more. These drugs are known to produce suicidal and homicidal side effects! The program boasts its ability to identify suicidal teens. We would have to agree, if their way of "identifying" suicidal teens is by CREATING suicidal teens. Because that's all they really do.

So, is there a need for mental health screening in schools? Possibly in the RAREST of occasions, but not in any usual school.

TeenScreen: A Menacing Presence

Citizens in the United States need to know that the first target population for this forced massive screening for "mental illness" are America's children and pregnant women. This initiative has already been in operation since July 2003 in 168 of America's schools under the auspice of the "TeenScreen®" program, developed by Columbia University physicians (under leadership of David Shaffer M.D, spokesman of Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals), [the same group that has been designated by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to review the studies on SSRI-antidepressants inducing self-harm & suicide in children].

Fifty two million American school children and six million school personnel are ordered to undergo screening tests for hidden mental illnesses (as if mental illness needs to be ferreted out and captured like a rabid animal). This is not science fiction... this is harsh reality and it is happening now!

ACT NOW! Stop TEENSCREEN! Sign the online petitition

Legislation Prohibits Mental Health Screening for Children

NMHA (National Mental Health Association) is very concerned with this type of proposed legislation because of the potential effect on access to preventive care and early intervention for children with mental health needs. Moreover, this type of legislation is often backed by powerful groups that argue that mental illness and mental health diagnoses do not exist and do not require treatment. With statistics showing that mental health problems affect one in every five young people at any given time and that an estimated two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not getting the help they need, the enactment of this type of legislation could have further negative impact on children with mental illness.

George Bush’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health addressed disparities in services in what it called a…”mental health delivery system is fragmented and in disarray” by proposing in its Goal 4 that “In a transformed mental health system, the early detection of mental health problems in children and adults - through routine and comprehensive testing and screening - will be an expected and typical occurrence.” The report added a further recommendation that “Quality screening and early intervention will occur in both readily accessible, low-stigma settings, such as primary health care facilities and schools, and in settings in which a high level of risk exists for mental health problems, such as criminal justice, juvenile justice, and child welfare systems.”

The proposed legislation clearly targets early intervention and fosters stigma around behavioral health disorders in children. NMHA is developing tools such as legislative language and media pieces to assist MHAs in fighting such bills. NMHA is committed to advancing the agenda for promotion of sound public policy for children’s mental health. Below are materials that address the importance of access to comprehensive mental health services for children:

• Investment in Children's Mental Health Services (pdf)
• NMHA’s position statement on The Use of Psychotropic Medication to Treat Children’s Mental Health Needs
• NMHA’s position statement on Access to Health Services.

NMHA is including with this issue alert media talking points, a sample letter to the editor, and a sample press release (MS Word). NMHA recommends that states facing this legislation utilize these materials to do the following:

• Apprise fellow stakeholders and coalition members of this legislation.
• Inform local education agencies and associations that we are tracking this legislation and identify opportunities for collaboration.
• Determine which policymakers are chairs of committees that will be addressing this legislation and communicate with them about our concerns using the media talking points, the NMHA position statements, or the NMHA investment in children’s mental health services brochure.
• When appropriate, adapt NMHA media materials to your local situation and to publicize your commitment to children’s mental health issues.

As a parent of a son with attention deficit disorder, Utah’s Governor Huntsman underscored that the recently vetoed HB 42 could "have a chilling effect on communication between parents and teachers."

10 Anti-Depressant Related Killings

Here are the last major school shooters and the link under each name is a reputable news source that connects them all with SSRI's (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) like Prozac, Ritalin, Zoloft, Luvox, Paxil, and others:

1) May 20 1999: T.J. Solomon, a 15-year-old wounds six at Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga.. http://add.about.com/health/add/library/weekly/aa052599.htm CNN Reports That T.J. Solomon was on Ritalin.

2) April 16 1999: Shawn Cooper, a 15-year-old sophomore wounds one at Notus Junior-Senior High School in Notus, Idaho. http://www.boiseweekly.com/archive/v7i42/cope/cope_col.html Reports that Cooper was abused and medicated.

3) April 20 1999: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill thirteen and wound twenty three at Columbine High School. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/april99/antisocial04299.htm Eric Harris, The apparent leader of the attack had been on Luvox.

4) May 21, 1998: Kip Kinkel, a 15-year-old kills four and wounds twenty three at Thurston High School in Springfield, Ore.. http://www.drugawareness.org/washtimes.html Kinkle Had been taking Prozac.

5) March 24, 1998: Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, opened fire on their classmates and killed five and wounded eleven at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Ark..

Arkansas Online http://www.ardemgaz.com/prev/jonesboro/brygolden24.html Andrew Golden's Medical Records released to Courts but not open to the public!

From Jon Rappaport of the Truthseeker foundation: http://www.nfgcc.org/schoolviolence.htm A Doctor from Georgetown University commented on Network television that one of the boys had previously been treated for violent behavior. (Treated with what?)

AND According to Arianna Huffington the following events are linked to Anti-Depressants as well:

6) Julie Marie Meade from Maryland who was shot to death by the police when they found her waving a gun at them. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/070998.html

7) Ben Garris, a 16-year-old in Baltimore who stabbed his counselor to death. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/070998.html

8) Kristina Fetters, a 14-year-old from Des Moines, Iowa, who stabbed her favorite great aunt in a rage that landed her a life sentence. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/070998.html

9) Pfizer, The Manufacturer of Zoloft is being sued by a Kansas family for the Suicide of their 14 year old son on Zoloft. http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/061099.html

10) The estate of Brynn Hartman, Wife of the Saturday Night Live Comedian, Phil Hartman, is also suing Pfizer, since Mrs. Hartman had been on Zoloft when she killed her husband and herself! http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/061099.html

Paxil Not Safe for Children & Teens

In 2003, the FDA broadcast a warning about the dangers of teens and children using Paxil, an antidepressant drug. But still the TeenScreen program and its pharmaceutical sponsors force children and teens to take Paxil (among other drugs) under the presumption that they (the teens) are mentally ill. But considering the public warning below posted by the FDA, it leaves you to wonder: Who really IS mentally ill?

FDA Warning of 2003
IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT PATIENTS TAKING PAXIL (paroxetine hydrochloride) DO NOT SUDDENLY DISCONTINUE USE OF THE DRUG. ANY CHANGES MUST TAKE PLACE UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION. More on the warning here

Notable TeenScreen Quote

"...virtually all of the gun-related massacres that have made headlines over the past decade have had one thing in common: They were perpetrated by people taking Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox, Paxil or a related antidepressant drug."


If your child has been misdiagnosed by the TeenScreen program, and are on one or more of the drugs listed above, please seek help now! It is not too late!

Deceitful Laurie Flynn: TeenScreen Director

You'll be amazed at how unprofessional TeenScreen directors and key players act while not being watched. Case in point, Ms. Laurie Flynn, TeenScreen Director. An email by Laurie Flynn was obtained and made public. See how Ms. Laurie Flynn feels about the children, and the TeenScreen programs manupulative ways. Flynn, well connected to pharmaceutical companies through NAMI, now works diligently through the media and her connections in Washington, DC, to expand TeenScreen using every possible avenue. One of the tactics, which was contrived by one of TeenScreen’s PR firms, is to keep track of teen suicides all over the country and then write letters to the editors of those local newspapers to market TeenScreen and take advantage of vulnerable communities in mourning. Flynn has “authored” most of those letters and comes across as very professional and caring in these letters. However, this is how she really talks with fellow marketing allies.

Laurie Flynn's Email -
“I'm looking for a horse to ride in here! ... I need to get some kids screened—if the schools are a road block we are interested in community organizations. Next week we are talking with the Boys and Girls Club in Pinellas. ...I also think we should see if local agencies or businesses could be engaged in ‘community screenings.’ Issue here is assuring the link to follow-up…”

—Laurie Flynn, from an email to Jim McDonough