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.
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!