10:00 PM CDT on Friday, June 25, 2004
By Shelley Kofler / 11 News

There are troubling allegations that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children are being overmedicated to dangerous levels.

Elaine Philpott pulls a worn book from a shelf saying, "This is the book that was her very favorite book."

Philpott says that at 9 years old, her daughter, Krystin read at the second grade level. Even with learning disabilities, she still made the A-B honor roll.

That was before public school officials claimed that Philpott was abusive to Krystin, and wasn't controlling her erratic behavior. State caseworkers placed Krystin in foster care.

Now, six years later, Krystin still reads at the second grade level.

State documents show that she had an IQ of 86 when she entered foster care. Ninety is considered a normal IQ.

Krystin's has since dropped to 68, which indicates mental retardation.

"I don't believe she's mentally retarded. I believe the pills have a lot to do with her functioning. It's making her worse," Philpott said.

Medical records show that last fall, when Krystin was hospitalized for an unexplained broken hip, doctors had prescribed at least six strong prescriptions. Among them were an anti-depressant, bipolar medication, hyperactivity medicines, a daily laxative and Zyprexa, a powerful anti-psychotic.

"That is a lot of medication for any person – adult or a kid," said pharmacist Jeffrey Warnken.

And Philpott says it's taking a toll on her daughter.

"Within a few weeks of going into the system, she became suicidal . She started hallucinating," her mother said.

"I've seen her barely able to lift her head up and open her eyes," Philpott said. "I've seen her on so many psycho-stimulants, she digs holes in her body."

Records collected by State Comptroller Carole Strayhorn's staff show other foster children also received questionable quantities of drugs.

Dr. Ben Raimer reviewed those records, which were Medicaid prescriptions for 6,000 foster children.

Raimer is a senior pediatrician who has treated neglected children for more than 20 years at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

While medication may help many traumatized foster children, Dr. Raimer says that what he saw in the state's own records is "outrageous."

"I was stunned. I truly was. I reviewed one chart that had 11 different medications: 11 different psychotropics. I was, like, this has got to be a mistake," said Dr. Raimer.

"I think by any physician's standards, these children are overmedicated," he continued.

When asked if he thought the children could be in danger, Dr. Raimer said, "Yes."

"All these medications have side effects," he said.

Dr. Raimer is especially concerned about the overuse of psychotropics - neurological drugs that affect the brain.

The side effects of psychotropic drugs include everything from permanent twitching to irregular heartbeats, hormone suppression and suicidal tendencies.

No one knows the long-term effects on children, because clinical studies haven't been done.

"If a child is receiving medication that they shouldn't be receiving, we need to take care of that," said Thomas Chapmond, head of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the agency that is responsible for foster children.

He admits his caseworkers give consent for drugs to be administered, even though they have little medical training.

"We rely on the physician to monitor the medication," he said.

"Our caseworkers aren't going to go up against a doctor because they don't have that expertise," Chapmond said.

He was asked why the caseworkers signed the consent forms. He replied that they did so for "the same reason parents sign the consent forms. That's how you get the care."

Chapmond says his agency has set up a task force to determine whether overmedication is a problem. But critics note the task force was announced one week before the comptroller issued this blistering report on foster care.

Last July, another task force, overseen by the same agency administrator, chose not to act on the medication issue.

"I don't think, as a state, we have anyone watching over these children," Dr. Raimer said.

Dr. Raimer believes Texas, like Florida, needs a medical review team to catch overmedication and insure foster children receive appropriate therapy.

Philpott hopes the changes come in time for Krystin.

"She is either going to end up dead, or locked away in a facility for the rest of her life, and from what I've seen of the facilities, it's the same thing," said Krystin's mother.

Dr. Raimer says the state's system may encourage overmedication because children who receive more drugs are placed in specialized care, and those foster providers are paid more.

The state says that's not so; that providers are paid for the services they render.