My child's RX and MY rights

I am assuming this Minor is a Foster Child based on the statement of 'others living here?' Instead of siblings, and also based on you haven't already called the Child's Psychiatrist which in Foster Care would be Confidential. If the Minor is a Foster Child then you do have Parent Rights! If the Minor is Adopted then you also have Parent Rights to disrupt the Adoption until Treatment remedies the situation.

Wait, hold on, does that I have less rights as an adoptive parent (meaning the only recourse is to disrupt the adoption until...) than as a foster parent? Please tell me I misread what you said. Assume that the Psychiatrist knows of this situation. What should I be expecting of him/her? Thanks for such a quick reply!!!

You can't make a teen take meds if they don't want to. Can her meds be done by shot? If the child is dangerous or suicidal off the meds, take her to the hospital or call the police. Keep a log of refusals to share with psychiatrists. What does the doc say you should do about this? That question shouldn't be against privacy laws. Does he want you to call his emergency line everytime?(I'm sure he think of a better solution). Unfortunately, all you can really do is let her/him deal with the consequences-hospital, jail. If her/his behavior is placing others in danger, she/he needs to be in a hospital or treatment center that can monitor his/her meds. If she/he is threatening suicide, call 911.

The Dr knows about the non-compliance taking rx because s/he had been having blood drawn at least monthly to check levels. (the med is seen in the blood). The med is NOT in the blood. Of course I would call 911 under those circumstances, but the threats are made and then recanted, withdrawn, as soon it becomes apparent that hosp is going to happen. I guess it's a wait and see thing? Sounds like a bad plan to me. I guess I'm hoping someone has a better one. I have to believe there is something I can do to not enable this line of refusion. Thoughts? Come on you lurkers, you probably have GREAT ideas!

When s/he recants the suicide threat, give the choice of taking the med and showing you it's been swallowed, or calling 911 anyway. Sorry, no better suggestions.

At one point, the Dr. gave him/her 4 days to get on meds with test to follow. Tests showed neg. S/he can swallow them in front of me, claim to take them, and go to their room and vomit them back up. Lucyjoy, I bet you can believe me that in this kids mind they are telling the truth that they "take their meds". The lesson I take away is to watch what excellent liars they are - to themselves and others. It's good to know how good they are at what. Forearmed and so on. Thanks for the help.

I forgot about the vomitting. There's nothing worse then watching a kid self detruct when you know there's a med that can help. Is the drug(or a similar one)available by shot? There's only so much you can do, which doesn't make it any easier to watch. Why doesn't the kid want to take the meds? Out right defiance, side effects, or just hates to kill the highs to keep the lows away? For defiance, you have to give the kid control, side effects-adjust meds, high's too good to lose is the toughest to beat. I know this must be so frustrating for you.

Have them take the medicine and sit infront of you for atleast half hour. Then they can leave - I think medicines should be absorbed by then. Another way is to attempt to talk with the child asking for the specific reason for not taking the meds. This can usually be resolved or addressed. The last resort is dissolve it out into a teaspoon - All medicines taste NASTY! My problem was that I hated to take any pill of any sort but would agree to taking liquid! (stupid me!.:rolleyes: ) The taste alone is punishment enough. Before you should really explain to the child that since he/she cannot be trusted to take the meds then you will have to watch him/her and treat him/her like that. Emphasize that when you have trust in him/her you will ease up on the reigns. Just my inexperienced take! :p

You've gotten some good advice here. Lucyjoy and the others' suggestions to watch her take the meds and sit with you are fine. You want to be consistent and if she makes a thereat. I'd still take her to the ER and not let her recant so she does not have to go. Another thought is that this is becoming quite the power struggle. My general advice to parents is to avoid power-struggles...but if you must engege in one you must win (better to only engage in 5 a day and win all five then engage in 20 and win 10...that will actually cause more problems. You may want to let natural consequences prevail. If she does not want to take her meds, so be it...if she becomes dangerous, you take her to a safe place until she is able to return home again. I'd probably be more inclined to recommend this course with a family I am working with. Her choice to take the meds...monitor closely, maybe even keep her under constant visual contact and remove all dangerous objects from her room and if you become more concerned and feel these actions still are not effective to keep her safe, then the hospital is where she must go. Just like you'd fix a cut on her leg...but if it required stitches, you'd take her to the people who do stitches. Regards,

You have all been right - however: 1) s/he recants to professionals (I mean @ the hosp - I have taken this child recently. s/he was not admitted because s/he contracted to be safe) 2) RX IM administered - who is going to do that? Not me. 3) if s/he would agree to sit where I could see him/her (a compliant behavior) I would be way ahead of the game I'm in anyhow....see? Even so, we're making headway. Because in the current mindset this kid in, s/he WANTS to go to foster care. But, a foster home probably would not take hm/hr w/o RX. So, I think that predicament is forcing the issue to take them. Weird, but it may be working. Meanwhile, we (child and parents) had a pleasant visit (at home)today. We really do love our kid. Embroyotic (sp?) steps in the right direction. No power struggles. Dr. Art, I use the same analogy over and over. It makes me sick that because people/prof'ls can't see hs/hr wounds they won't make sure s/he's getting the proper/best tx. I'm willing to advocate where necessary for a different way of doing things in the future. Thanks for all the suggestions.

I'm not quite sure I understand your problem. The kid is apparently willing to allow the doctor to do weekly blood draws to monitor the medication she is not taking, but she will not take the meds? Ask your doctor to train you in giving IM injections, (not difficult, we teach parents this sort of thing all the time), and have your doctor write the three of you a contract stating that if the child refuses to take her medications or takes her medications but has serum levels suggesting that she threw them up, then she will go on daily IM injections administered by you for the next week. If she refuses the IM injections, call the doc and have the nurse chart this, with the written understanding that she will be admitted for hospitalization if his serum levels continue negative for more than one week regardless of whether or not she recants. If the problem is that she doesn't like the taste, the taste can usually be effectively disguised in food, or the meds can be placed in a syringe and squirted into the back of the throat where the taste is minimal if you then immediately drink something using a straw. What is her reason for not taking the meds anyway? It might be possible to work with her. You don't need to disrupt an adoption to win a power struggle with your kid. As her parent you can make her sleep on the floor, give all her CDs and electronics to the poor children, remove the door to her room so she has no privacy, restrict her clothing to two hideous but complete outfits washed daily so that she looks like a dork and is ashamed to leave the house, and/or serve her three healthy. nutritious meals a day consisting exclusively of things she dislikes but is not allergic to. What you do need to do is (1) WIN DECISIVELY and (2) BE CALM ABOUT IT. Remember, your angst is in itself a reward if you let her see you pulling out your hair. At the moment it sounds like she has you just where she wants you. The household is revolving around her and there is no penalty for her being a brat. BTW, if you have to enact a penalty for rotten behavior, I wouldn't rescind it just because she decided that she would take her pill again. Explain that the length of time the penalty will last cannot be shortened, but it sure as heck can be extended for crummy behavior. Similarly, if you give her Gameboy to Goodwill, don't go getting another just because she decided to act nice for an evening. Tell her if she keeps up the good behavior, you'll get her another for Christmas.