The Rileys are certainly near the end of the spectrum of child drugging and the severity of this case makes it seem like a singular event. It is not. Instead of just focusing on the severity of this one instance, we should question the culture of drugs and control that has allowed us, even in much milder and seemingly harmless instances, to use drugs to turn off the part of children that makes them children. In so many instances, we’ve gone well past the point of not letting kids be kids to not letting kids be human...
As progressive a state as Massachusetts is in many respects, it is, unfortunately, also a state that is more influenced by Big Pharma than most. My guess is that has a lot to do with its concentration of higher echelon medical schools. There is a culture of coziness between pill-pushing psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical industry that starts all way back to when these docs were just students. They get fellowships and internships sponsored by various companies, and it just goes on from there.
