I picked up the local newspaper this morning to find this story on the front page. Rebecca Riley's untimely death It has left me depressed and angry. How can someone do that to a child??
But who's at fault here (besides the obvious parents)
1)The Doctor who perscribed adult drugs to a preschooler and then allowed multipule refills when they weren't due
2)The Uncle who stood by and did nothing
3)The pharmacists who continually allowed the parents to get the refills
4)The Social service workers who didnt check up on the family properly
5) the neighbors, teachers, nurse, and principal who knew something was wrong with all of the family's children and did nothing
How can this happen and no one say anything?
Full Version: Who's At Fault?
At the risk of sounding unforgiving, who is guilty? - all of the above.
It's enough to make one's heart weep.
It's enough to make one's heart weep.
One of the big problems today is, the teachers are allowed to "diagnose" ADD in the pupils. I was a pretty rowdy kid growing up, but when my teacher "slapped" me down, (not phisicaly) I shut up and paid attention. Nowadays teachers say "ADD" and the kids are put on medication, the parents believe it, they give more drugs, kid dies, parents and people say....."What happened?" 
IMHO.I think that it was a terrible tragedy that the distribution of the extra medication was allowed to be given to the parents of the little girl...In this case with the history of the parents i just can not believe that social workers were not as concerned or insistent on seeing and making sure that this child was alright and safe...
I am familiar with the medication given to this poor child...I can not believe that adult medication was given out by the therapist to be used on a child so young...I also can not believe that the neighbors and school officials did not react accordingly....Further more i can not believe that the pharmacy did not act accordingly...
Therefore i believe that all of the above are to blame for the death of this child...I think that they all contributed to this this little girls death...She did not die the day she was found dead...Her life ended when she was given the medication and when her body was taking such a beating for the length of time that it was apparent...She died a slow and painful death which was apparent to all who saw her... ...This is a very sad world that we live in if something such as this has been allowed to happen...
I am familiar with the medication given to this poor child...I can not believe that adult medication was given out by the therapist to be used on a child so young...I also can not believe that the neighbors and school officials did not react accordingly....Further more i can not believe that the pharmacy did not act accordingly...
Therefore i believe that all of the above are to blame for the death of this child...I think that they all contributed to this this little girls death...She did not die the day she was found dead...Her life ended when she was given the medication and when her body was taking such a beating for the length of time that it was apparent...She died a slow and painful death which was apparent to all who saw her...
...This is a very sad world that we live in if something such as this has been allowed to happen...
Well firstly of course most people involved in this case are at least in some way to blame but it's important to look at the main ones. In my opinion that's her parents and her shrink.
Social workers and the like aren't all the great, the bureaucracy and amount of cases they handle effect their job but that doesn't excuse sloppiness!
The chemists, well they should have been more diligent but who knows what regulations these people were following, it's a bit of a muddy picture.
The teachers and other observers weren't all silent but there's only so much they can do and there's also a tendency even today to not interfere with other people's business, if I think a child is being abused I will try to stop it but there's many who would like to either live in ignorance or think they have no place getting involved.
Diagnosing a child as young as 2 with bi polar is crazy, I'll leave the ADD stuff alone because it's a much more unclear avenue. Even with a family history how can anyone really diagnoise someone with this disorder at that age? If it were up to me she'd never be allowed to be a shrink again. However clearly the parents weren't just following her instructions, they were doing more than that.
Finally the main blame is on the parents. They drugged their child and it lead to her tragic death! I hope they get jailed but I will feel sorry for her siblings if they do because even if they go into foster care, well not all of those homes are loving if you get my drift. I'm not saying that applies to all or even the majority but still. It would be good if they could stay with their grandparents or something like that.
Social workers and the like aren't all the great, the bureaucracy and amount of cases they handle effect their job but that doesn't excuse sloppiness!
The chemists, well they should have been more diligent but who knows what regulations these people were following, it's a bit of a muddy picture.
The teachers and other observers weren't all silent but there's only so much they can do and there's also a tendency even today to not interfere with other people's business, if I think a child is being abused I will try to stop it but there's many who would like to either live in ignorance or think they have no place getting involved.
Diagnosing a child as young as 2 with bi polar is crazy, I'll leave the ADD stuff alone because it's a much more unclear avenue. Even with a family history how can anyone really diagnoise someone with this disorder at that age? If it were up to me she'd never be allowed to be a shrink again. However clearly the parents weren't just following her instructions, they were doing more than that.
Finally the main blame is on the parents. They drugged their child and it lead to her tragic death! I hope they get jailed but I will feel sorry for her siblings if they do because even if they go into foster care, well not all of those homes are loving if you get my drift. I'm not saying that applies to all or even the majority but still. It would be good if they could stay with their grandparents or something like that.
QUOTE(BlackSpyder @ Mar 25 2007, 01:15 AM) 
But who's at fault here (besides the obvious parents)
1)The Doctor who ...
1)The Doctor who ...
I want to make it perfectly clear to everyone
that I am not related to the aforementioned Doctor who.
After a little further reading it sounds like the shrink never actually met with the child and based all of her diagnosis on the parents word and all the other children had the same "disorders"and were on the same meds.
Big Freakin Red Flag!!!
Big Freakin Red Flag!!!
QUOTE(JohnWho @ Mar 27 2007, 04:08 PM)
QUOTE(BlackSpyder @ Mar 25 2007, 01:15 AM)
But who's at fault here (besides the obvious parents)
1)The Doctor who ...
1)The Doctor who ...
I want to make it perfectly clear to everyone
that I am not related to the aforementioned Doctor who.
I was wondering...
QUOTE(UrbanChick @ Mar 27 2007, 03:12 PM)
Well firstly of course most people involved in this case are at least in some way to blame but it's important to look at the main ones. In my opinion that's her parents and her shrink.
I would agree with you that the main people who should be held responsible for this tragic death are the parents and the psychiatrist because they are the ones who are directly responsible due to the fact that they prescribed and dispensed the medications for and to the child....
QUOTE
Social workers and the like aren't all the great, the bureaucracy and amount of cases they handle effect their job but that doesn't excuse sloppiness!
The chemists, well they should have been more diligent but who knows what regulations these people were following, it's a bit of a muddy picture.
The chemists, well they should have been more diligent but who knows what regulations these people were following, it's a bit of a muddy picture.
However indirectly there should be some form of action taken against these people who are involved because they are the ones who we are supposed to trust to doing their jobs and not just doing their jobs but doing them correctly....In this case they didn't...IMO...
QUOTE
The teachers and other observers weren't all silent but there's only so much they can do and there's also a tendency even today to not interfere with other people's business, if I think a child is being abused I will try to stop it but there's many who would like to either live in ignorance or think they have no place getting involved.
For just a minute think about it this way...What if this child was someone who you had known and seen acting on the near comatose condition( for lack of a better word ) that she was in...You said that you would have tried to do something about it...Don't you think that the school officials and neighbors had a moral obligation to do the same...?...I sure know that i would have because just for the main reason that the child could not act on her own behalf...
QUOTE(JohnWho @ Mar 27 2007, 04:08 PM)
QUOTE(BlackSpyder @ Mar 25 2007, 01:15 AM)
But who's at fault here (besides the obvious parents)
1)The Doctor who ...
1)The Doctor who ...
I want to make it perfectly clear to everyone
that I am not related to the aforementioned Doctor who.
WOW...I'm new here and for a minute there i thought that you might have been related....
QUOTE(friendlyfox369 @ Mar 28 2007, 07:44 AM)
For just a minute think about it this way...What if this child was someone who you had known and seen acting on the near comatose condition( for lack of a better word ) that she was in...You said that you would have tried to do something about it...Don't you think that the school officials and neighbors had a moral obligation to do the same...?...I sure know that i would have because just for the main reason that the child could not act on her own behalf...
From what I read the teachers did at least say something didn't they or am I not remembering correctly?
QUOTE(UrbanChick @ Mar 27 2007, 11:04 PM)
From what I read the teachers did at least say something didn't they or am I not remembering correctly?
I just think they could have taken it further than they did....I mean come on they had to carry the little girl onto the bus and they also saw that her siblings were all screwed up as well....You would think that when they first noticed this they would have called Law Enforcement...If i had witnessed this you bet your bum that i would have done everything in my power to get help for this child and obviously they didn't...Thats pretty messed up...
Everyone is afraid of getting sued! Sad but true. The parents could have sued the school district for slander, defamation of character, emotional distress, whatever. But the fact remains that the true pillars of our society are becoming more and more impotent because of the fear of lawsuit.
That being said, fear of lawsuit is not an excuse. Those who observed the child's condition had a moral obligation to at least look into the issue.
In my opinion, the lion's share of the blame should fall on the parents. THEY are the ones who took their child to a psychiatrist! THEY are the ones who chose to feed their child drugs, and even increase the dosage! THEY chose to follow the advice of the shrink! Just because someone gives you their opinion doesn't mean you have to follow it. These parents are lazy pieces of $&*#, who chose to turn their child into a manageable zombie. The exact opposite of what a child should be.
The shrink is partially at fault, she was negligent. However, she began to take actions to limit the impact of her role.
As far as Social Workers are concerned, they are part of a diseased system. Many are courageous people trying to make a difference, while being worked (physically and emotionally) into the ground. The system is flawed beyond salvage. That is why children have parents! We cannot expect a 'department' to handle the welfare of all the children people decide they don't want to deal with.
Personnally, I think the parents should be sterilized. They obviously don't desire the energy that comes with another human life. And, as this drug on for quite a while, they knew what they were doing. So maybe a frontal lobotomy as well.
This is all just too sad. That poor child. I can't express over the computer how much I would like to meet the father in a dark alley.
That being said, fear of lawsuit is not an excuse. Those who observed the child's condition had a moral obligation to at least look into the issue.
In my opinion, the lion's share of the blame should fall on the parents. THEY are the ones who took their child to a psychiatrist! THEY are the ones who chose to feed their child drugs, and even increase the dosage! THEY chose to follow the advice of the shrink! Just because someone gives you their opinion doesn't mean you have to follow it. These parents are lazy pieces of $&*#, who chose to turn their child into a manageable zombie. The exact opposite of what a child should be.
The shrink is partially at fault, she was negligent. However, she began to take actions to limit the impact of her role.
As far as Social Workers are concerned, they are part of a diseased system. Many are courageous people trying to make a difference, while being worked (physically and emotionally) into the ground. The system is flawed beyond salvage. That is why children have parents! We cannot expect a 'department' to handle the welfare of all the children people decide they don't want to deal with.
Personnally, I think the parents should be sterilized. They obviously don't desire the energy that comes with another human life. And, as this drug on for quite a while, they knew what they were doing. So maybe a frontal lobotomy as well.
This is all just too sad. That poor child. I can't express over the computer how much I would like to meet the father in a dark alley.
QUOTE(blueandgold04 @ Mar 29 2007, 12:11 AM)
Everyone is afraid of getting sued! Sad but true. The parents could have sued the school district for slander, defamation of character, emotional distress, whatever. But the fact remains that the true pillars of our society are becoming more and more impotent because of the fear of lawsuit.
That being said, fear of lawsuit is not an excuse. Those who observed the child's condition had a moral obligation to at least look into the issue.
In my opinion, the lion's share of the blame should fall on the parents. THEY are the ones who took their child to a psychiatrist! THEY are the ones who chose to feed their child drugs, and even increase the dosage! THEY chose to follow the advice of the shrink! Just because someone gives you their opinion doesn't mean you have to follow it. These parents are lazy pieces of $&*#, who chose to turn their child into a manageable zombie. The exact opposite of what a child should be.
The shrink is partially at fault, she was negligent. However, she began to take actions to limit the impact of her role.
As far as Social Workers are concerned, they are part of a diseased system. Many are courageous people trying to make a difference, while being worked (physically and emotionally) into the ground. The system is flawed beyond salvage. That is why children have parents! We cannot expect a 'department' to handle the welfare of all the children people decide they don't want to deal with.
Personnally, I think the parents should be sterilized. They obviously don't desire the energy that comes with another human life. And, as this drug on for quite a while, they knew what they were doing. So maybe a frontal lobotomy as well.
This is all just too sad. That poor child. I can't express over the computer how much I would like to meet the father in a dark alley.
That being said, fear of lawsuit is not an excuse. Those who observed the child's condition had a moral obligation to at least look into the issue.
In my opinion, the lion's share of the blame should fall on the parents. THEY are the ones who took their child to a psychiatrist! THEY are the ones who chose to feed their child drugs, and even increase the dosage! THEY chose to follow the advice of the shrink! Just because someone gives you their opinion doesn't mean you have to follow it. These parents are lazy pieces of $&*#, who chose to turn their child into a manageable zombie. The exact opposite of what a child should be.
The shrink is partially at fault, she was negligent. However, she began to take actions to limit the impact of her role.
As far as Social Workers are concerned, they are part of a diseased system. Many are courageous people trying to make a difference, while being worked (physically and emotionally) into the ground. The system is flawed beyond salvage. That is why children have parents! We cannot expect a 'department' to handle the welfare of all the children people decide they don't want to deal with.
Personnally, I think the parents should be sterilized. They obviously don't desire the energy that comes with another human life. And, as this drug on for quite a while, they knew what they were doing. So maybe a frontal lobotomy as well.
This is all just too sad. That poor child. I can't express over the computer how much I would like to meet the father in a dark alley.
I wouldn't worry too much about the need for them to be sterilized as far as the mother is concerned, if she gets put in jail by the time she comes out it's likely she'll have already gone through menopause.
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