A Fairfield father says that a federally funded health clinic operating within Lawrence High School provided his minor daughter with a baggy of prescription anti-depressants without his knowledge or consent.
When the girl’s father, Eric Sack, discovered the baggy of pills over the weekend, his daughter told him that it was provided to her by the Bulldog Health Center, a School Based Health Center (SBHC) at Lawrence High School.
Sack saw the the pills as an infringement on his parental rights, but he was also concerned that the school’s clinic sent unlabeled drugs with no child-resistant container into his home, where his two other younger children also live.
He called Lawrence High School Principal Dan Bowers to complain about the undisclosed drug treatments the school clinic gave his daughter, but Bowers insisted the SBHC was a separate entity from the school and not under his control.
Bowers did not respond to a phone call and an email seeking comment for this story.
Sack said representatives from the Bulldog Health Center, which is operated by the Waterville-based HealthReach Community Health Centers, told him they were legally allowed to give his daughter prescription drugs without informing him, but they wouldn’t address the lack of a label or safety container.
Calls placed to the Bulldog Health Center and HealthReach’s main office were not returned.
Sack pulled his daughter out of the public school this week to make her appointments with a doctor and a therapist.
“I’m looking out for the best interests of my daughter. That’s why I pulled her out of school,” said Sack. “Because I don’t think she really ought to be there if they’re going to start giving her pills, you know? Until I sit down with a doctor that I pick for my daughter, not through the school.”
After Sack withheld his daughter from school, someone at either the school or the health clinic contacted the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of Child and Family Services, the division of state government tasked with investigating allegations of child abuse.
On Thursday, an agent from Child Protective Services (CPS) called Sack and informed him that he would be arriving shortly to make a surprise visit to his home to conduct a child welfare investigation.
“They called and said it was an emergency situation at my house, that I was pretty near holding my daughter hostage, is what the gentleman that came yesterday told me,” Sack said.
“He had information that only the school and Bulldog Health Center had,” he said.
For three hours, CPS Agent Dylan Wood grilled Sack and his family individually and as a group, including asking questions about Sack’s firearms and where he keeps them.
Wood, Sack said, eventually indicated that the complaint against him appeared to be unfounded.
The visit from CPS is reminiscent of similar visits that happened in a Damariscotta school district last year after two parents complained about a 26-year-old social worker who had begun a social gender transition on a 13-year-old girl without her mother’s consent.
The mother, as well as another district parent who complained about the social worker, both received visits from a CPS agent to investigate allegations that they had abused their children.
Both parents told the Maine Wire that they believed the CPS visits were retaliation for their criticizing transgender ideology.
Rep. Shelley Rudnicki (R-Fairfield), whose district includes Lawrence High School, condemned the provision of prescription medications to minors without informed consent from parents.
“Giving prescription meds to a child without parental permission is dangerous and unacceptable,” Rudnicki said.
Sack acknowledged that he or his wife may have signed a consent form at the start of the school year, one of many forms parents are asked to sign.
But he still believes that clinic staffers acted inappropriately when they sent his daughter home with a baggy of drugs.
“You can’t just give my daughter pills in a ziplock baggie and send them home,” said Sack, adding that he would be consulting with attorneys to see what legal recourse he might have.
The Bulldog Health Center, like other SBHCs, receives funding from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) under the Health Center Program.
HRSA is a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Because of the federal grant it receives, employees at the clinic have a Public Health Service designation, which means they are protected from liability in the event they are accused of negligence or wrongdoing.
Were someone to file a lawsuit against the clinic, they would effectively be suing the federal government.
Sertraline, marketed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer under the brand name “Zoloft”, is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).
Like other antidepressants, Zoloft carries a black box warning because it can increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, adolescents, and young adults under the age of 24, especially in the initial stages of treatment or when doses are changed.
Sack said he had no idea how the prescription drugs the school clinic provided to his daughter were supposed to be paid for.
In 2021, HealthReach reported earnings of $11.3 million through its pharmacy program.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="22319 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=22319">68 Comments
When CPS people show up, you are under no obligation to talk to them. if they really thought it was a kidnapping, they’d call the police.
This is insane. Safety issues aside, no child should be given ANY drugs without parental knowledge. I strongly advise ALL parents to emphasize to their children to never trust ANYONE who says “Your parents don’t have to know”.
When will you all wake up? They’re coming for our children.
Im just in shock reading this. Schools have completely overstepped boundaries. Zoloft is a very dangerous drug if the person is not monitored. Im curious how long they’ve had his child on the drug & told her not to disclose this to her parents. This is unacceptable on so many levels. Red flags of grooming.
I’m afraid I would have been arrested if they did this to my child. I would have gone berserk on them.
Zoloft is contraindicated with so many drugs and you should be sure of what else the child is taking before blindly administering anything. This is one reason it requires parental consider, besides the basic respect and humanity. It’s not your child, you mentally ill perverts. These people needs to be sent back to the Island of Misfits from whence they came!
I’m pretty sure that it’s illegal to dispense prescription drugs in an unlabeled container like that.
The Maine law provides cover for the malpractice.
…remove your children from these woke infested indoctrination centers. They’ll be better off learning the three ‘R’s’ from home than the trash and immorality they’re subjected to today. Our children are our future…look at what the ‘system’ is doing to them. They’re worth way more than a few pieces of silver!
Kids don’t need this shit and schools and doctors need to stop pushing it. If she was dealing with depression then a guidance counselor should be telling her to spend more time outside, write in a journal, and talk to someone in her family. I had severe depression after losing my dad through middle and high school, no one would have dreamed of prescribing pills back then. It took years to learn to grieve on my own, we need to be teaching mental health and wellness, not to fix everything with pills.
Thank you Maine Wire for this information. What is it with these government agencies if you question anything they do that agency will send another government agency into your home and question you and your family. They will never admit to any wrong doing or try to work with people.
The article notes that the “ Because of the federal grant it receives, employees at the clinic have a Public Health Service designation, which means they are protected from liability in the event they are accused of negligence or wrongdoing.”
This is sort of confusing. I worked many years at HRSA dealing with all aspects of CHCs, and they are sued for malpractice and other violations of the law all the time. What does happen is that a DOJ attorney provides their legal defense.
The father needs to consult an attorney.
http://www.bondsforthewin.com
The father needs to go this site, read about how to utilize it in Maine, and then serve the Principal, the Vice Principal, and the Super. I believe Maine only has one bond provider. The school system will be screwed.
Why did the 17 year old seek treatment there and not with the family physician? Sertraline is not a narcotic and is not an instant therapeutic that takes time to take effect. What condition was she diagnosed with?
Anonymous Bastard
It’s irrelavent why she went. They gave her medication that can cause suicidal thoughts without a proper diagnosis ( three pills in a bag)??. The next step would be to coach or encourage gender dysphoria using the suicidal thoughts caused by the meds, without the parents having any idea where the thoughts originated. Then they can start the trans process. Ruining many lives in the process.
This process is communist in nature, where the person is properly of the state mechanisms. Parents and Famalies must be lied to and tricked so the state can take the child. This is grooming and evil.
Just sick an asshole attorney on them and go for the throat. This is no different than if a drug pusher handed these pills to your kid. In fact, that is probably more like it. Big pharma has it’s hands in the school and local government. Take. them down in the process…!
Were it me, my first reaction is to kick somebodies a$$. Enough with the Nazi A-holes who want to ruin your kids
his biggest mistake was not sending his wife. fathers are not allowed inside the tent of education anymore. this guy apparently didn’t get the memo. he’s lucky he’s not in prison already.
When the Civil War begins, we should address these as opportunities, much the same way as the Viet Cong did with great success.
When the Civil War begins, we should address these as opportunities, much the same way as the Viet Cong did with great success.
These people get their playbook straight from the communists, who have always known that strong families form perhaps the biggest barrier to the total state control of which the left dreams. If you do not simply hand over your kids to the State, without reservations or limits, you are suspect.
This is so troublesome, that this is happening in this country and that CPS can be sicced on good parents and a 3rd degree instigated … we’re in deep doo-doo people. Our government is so corrupted, our education system so infiltrated by activist Marxists, Communists and Socialists … never has there been a more glaring example than this story illustrates.
Home school your kids. Find a way, no excuses. The left isn’t just coming for your kids (and you) , they want them dead. It’s called tyranny people.
This is a Mandatory Action the Parents and guardian of the child need to take.
They need to report the “Health Clinic” to the Medical Board and even worse to the Pharmacy Board.
It violates all the laws do dispense Prescribed Drugs in an unlabeled Ziplock Baggie the way they did.
It’s time to turn the tables on them and if the School has the “clinic” on their property the Parents need to sue the school for Aiding and Abetting the clinic in breaking the law. The School did not perform “due diligence” in evaluating the competency of the clinic providers. There is so much more here to attack these scumbags.
Why doesnt the father call the police and tell them what happened? A minor was given drugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and then sue their a55
Funny how schools don’t allow kids to come to school with an advil but they have no issue with giving kids either mind altering drugs or hormone blockers. They in essence are fill blown criminals
They claim it’s not the parent’s business, until the child brings a gun to school, then suddenly it’s the parent’s responsibility. Sickening.
I can’t get Zoloft without going to a doctor!!
Whom ever gave her the controlled substance should be charged with illegal distribution of a controlled substance. They should be arrested and prosecuted just like a street level drug dealer.
It’s a violation of federal and state law to dispense unlabeled drugs in an unapproved container.
Whom ever gave her the controlled substance should be charged with illegal distribution of a controlled substance. They should be arrested and prosecuted just like a street level drug dealer.
This stuff happens all the time, yet 85-90 percent of “conservatives” and so-called “Christians” STILL send their precious children to these communist gulags. Those who do are not fit to be parents.
Hey Dad call the police because a drug dealer at schools just gave your child an illegal substance that can only be prescribed by a Doctor.
pedocrat skul-district commie-twats will do anything
Time to get our children out of gov. schools.
When will people figure out that the best way to deal with the public school systems, is to simply pull your children? Homeschool them. It can be done. We did and we’re not rich by any stretch of the imagination.
You can’t just start taking that particular medicine and have it act quickly with a few pills sent home in a baggie. It can take weeks for the medicine to start to work fully effectively. In fact, it often makes a person feel worse (jittery etc) for a few days/weeks while the body transitions to it.
So you can’t legally vote, drink alcohol, or own a gun, but a child’s brain is developed enough to make medical decisions?
Nothing short of medical malpractice. I hope he sues and wins BIG.
Report this to the DEA
Many states allow adolescents to be prescribed psychotropics without parental input. (I think all states do for birth control pills.) These drugs can cause suicidal thoughts but also homicidal thoughts, but no one cares to study how many killings have resulted. People’s brains get messed up by these drugs and doctors will prescribe one drug after the other to find the “right” one. Big Pharma gets richer.
You can lose your qualified immunity if it is a blatant violation.
Police have lost this when they do things that aren’t legal….
Sue them broke and like one man said above, go for the throat: financially eviscerate the clinic and the school district. And any medical doctors involved. Also look at the entities. Is the district actually a corporation? Is the clinic actually a corporation? Because in the event of fraud OR negligence, the corporate officers responsible may be personally liable. They may be sueable and have their personal assets subject to suit, to being taken away in court. Fraud and/or negligence, cause them to lose the “corporate veil of protection,”. Get lawyers who can be trusted, like religious freedom fighting ones. Go for maximum damages and required corrective measures, and the firing of the clinic from the school and say the firing of the principle.
Just a couple of points.
The victims did not need to
1) let CPS into his home.
2) speak with CPS
3) let his child speak with CPS.
No warrant. No entry.
American Lemmings will still keep voting Democrat as they March towards the cliff.
They have their TV and sports and their food delivery they don’t care about anything else
Okay, don’t sue them, destroy their building.
Please, please, please, people
When you pull your kids out of the public school system, immediately join HSLDA. (Home School Legal Defense Association). They specialize in situations such as this.
When CPS shows up, you call them and their lawyers will talk to the CPS agent.
Another piece of advice – even CPS is required to get a warrant to enter your home. DO NOT consent to let them in without the warrant.
If the clinic is in the school, and he’s the principal of the school, then he has control over it, or at least the district does.
Democrat fascists. Leave parenting to the parents!
The Federal and State governments think they own the children and can do whatever they want with them.
This will continue until parents are so fed up that they take drastic and tragic actions.
I didn’t go page by page through my enlistment documents, mortgages, car leases and purchases. From a school? Line by line, yo.
drugs in a frikkin baggie! What if one of the other household children were to take this drug. The thought of chaotic anarchy seems tame compared to the lawlessness of liberal fascists!
As an 8-9 year old child I was given Zoloft, with my parents consent, and I still remember what it was like. I felt hopeless, empty, sad for no reason. I felt like life was pointless. all the joy in my life was gone, I didn’t feel like myself and I hated what those pills were doing to me. It was a very frightening and scarring experience. This child’s father is very correct in his reactions. I hope someone will put a stop to these people giving mind altering medications to children in this manner.
Put your daughter in a good local Christian School and the support she will get from loving teachers will replace anything she would get from drugs.
This is illicit drug trafficking, plain and simple. Zoloft is a controlled substance that cannot be provided to anyone without a doctor’s prescription — full stop. This father needs to involve law enforcement and have these irresponsible, vile monsters arrested for drug trafficking. The only thing that is going to put a stop to this kind of overreach and harassment are prison cells for those inflicting it upon families.
I could say more, much more, but others have already covered any other points I wanted to make.
Zoloft behind a parent’s back is better than a breast binder and hormone injections behind a parent’s back. Just saying. When is Collins going to model that breast binder on the senate floor, BTW?
Zoloft behind a parent’s back is better than a breast binder and hormone injections behind a parent’s back. Just saying. When is Collins going to model that breast binder on the senate floor, since no one wants to see her in a bikini? Will Angus King model the penis tucker given to boys behind parents’ backs? Leave the children alone!
I’m guessing from what the father has commented, that his daughter hadn’t actually taken any of the tablets prescribed? Sertraline when first taken can actually make the person taking them feel like they’ve taken a milder form of MDMA. Obviously not everyone reacts the same, but what’s really essential to understand is that once this drug has been taken for even just a couple of days, withdrawal from it can include something that users refer to as ‘brain zaps’ which feel the way they sound. They can be painful, disorienting and cause dizziness. The longer someone has been taking an SSRI like this, the worse the symptoms of immediate withdrawal can be, with seizures being a common “side-effect”.
I mention all this in case anyone else finds that their children have been given these drugs and taken them. If this is the case, please seek a physician’s supervised time-table of withdrawal, to gradually have them weaned off of the drug safely, so as not to cause something serious like a seizure from happening. It is terrifying to have to think about such a thing, but the most important thing is to ensure that your child is not damaged further by an abrupt withdrawal from a powerful substance. Just as your children should never be put on these drugs so casually, neither should you try to get them to stop taking them abruptly, in the event that you discover that they have been taking them. Consult a trusted doctor immediately to begin a safe tapering off under medical supervision.
We need to find out who the fcker is that called CPS and dox them.
I don’t understand why the father didn’t insist on a warrent the first minute he heard from the CPS government goon.
Big Pharma pushing their poison in public schools. Good grief.
My guess is the person who dispensed this prescription is a Nurse Practitioner who does not have any medical oversight. Dispensing a controlled substance without proper labeling or packaging is a Federal Offense and her DEA License is now very much in jeopardy. She should also be reported to the Maine Bureau of Licensure of Medicine.
Administering psychotropic drugs to kids in school, especially on the sly ( signed waivers or not ) has me wonder what a possible ulterior motive could be? Someone is trying to propagate a school shooter. STAY VIGILANT!
Public Schools pushing Big Pharma products. What could possibly go wrong?
I never heard of a school even giving pills ro kids. N why would u even give anything without parent consent. He should sue them. Plus get Child Services involved because a child shouldn’t have any kind of pills anyway no matter what age n then its not sealed right.
I had cps called as well by the clinic over something my child’s therapist had already discussed prior and had already been handled. When my kid came home in tears telling me they said they were going to call I tried to call and speak to them and find out there concern of a matter that was over a month old and was told they couldn’t speak to me without written consent from my child! I NEVER approved my kid to go there because they have/had all the resources they needed already and were all ones I was aware of. Cps came did their thing and dropped the case because nothing was founded.
Because legislature gave rights for drug/sex/mental health services without parental consent for those 14 yrs of age and up, unless of course the parents insurance is needed for funding our parental rights have been minimized. My child is 18 now and still struggles with some decisions. But when she was at school for education (what lil is provided now at msad49) she should have been in her assigned classes UNLESS I picked her up for an appt or she was in guidance or the office. The fact that the clinic is a seperate entity, means the school is allowing children to leave the educational setting to attend appts (in my kids case it was not one she asked for but one they scheduled her for and when called out she told instructor no but was told to go and tell them herself) without parental consent and yet they can not live with a parent without the school being notified…make it make sense?
Under Mills, the moment that you enroll your child into the Maine public school system all of you’re parental rights and decisions that you make as a parent/gaurdian are immediately void and transfered over to the public school teachers during school hours. Enrolling your child in Maine public schools is basically equivalent to putting your kids up for adoption, and Mills is Daddy. I know that’s ok for some of you, or all of you democrats, but come on Republicans!!! Did you know that this also means that in Maine, teachers are allowed to change the sexual orientation of your child without your permission. Your son can go to school one morning as a boy and come home that very same day dressed in a skirt with the surgical procedure having been accomplished during math class without you even knowing about it. Math class is a place where I used to go as a child to learn this thing called math, but here in Maine…….well that’s another story, they do different things in math class. This is what you voted for though. Good job Maine.
It’s very gross what Maine has turned into. I wouldn’t trust any public teacher in Maine to pretend to teach my kids. They are gross people. Eeeew.
You can vote you’re way out of this though. Vote Republican all the way down the line. Vote Trump back in office. Mills will be out soon, let’s turn Maine RED again.
MAGA
Trump 2024
Cheers,
Connor
What’s next? Giving the children Meddybemps grown dope to calm their nerves?
So DHHS has no time to see if children are being beaten to death in their home, but here are three incidents where DHHS could rush right out and “investigate” allegations from would be tyrannical social workers, and school nurses.
SIC SEMER TYRANNIS
I don’t buy it… that place would be shut down already for distributing to go pills in an unlabeled container. And just 3? There literally is no “getting around” the illegal activity of that health center. And are they like the only school in state with a separate federal run health center in their school? Either way, real or not, there was so much not touched on that this is piss poor reporting.