Are NC School Based Health Centers a Benefit to Families or to Pharma?
Are NC School Based Health Centers a Benefit to Families or to Pharma?
Imagine you find an unlabeled zip lock bag with pills in your child’s possession. You ask your child what they are and where she got them, and she casually says that they are Zoloft, an antidepressant, and her School Based Health Center gave them to her. This is exactly what happened to Eric Sack, who was shocked to find that Zoloft wasn’t the only medicine his daughter was getting from the Bulldog Health Center.
Mr. Sack discovered that the center had prescribed birth control pills for his 17-year-old daughter two years earlier. Soon after, the school implanted a controlled-release birth control device into her arm. The clinician instructed her to continue taking her oral birth control, and when she asked why, they told her it would regulate her period. The teen didn’t have an irregular cycle.
As if this wasn’t enough, while she was taking the oral contraceptive, and with the implant still intact, the school also gave her a “morning after pill” when she confided to a practitioner that she'd had unprotected sex.
In the span of two and a half years, without her parent’s knowledge, the School Based Health Center had covertly administered three forms of synthetic birth control and an antidepressant to this minor girl. The practitioners at the clinic never provided any information about the drugs they were giving her, so she wasn’t aware of any possible side effects that could result.
This all took place in a federally funded School Based Health Center (SBHC) in Maine. These centers are popping up all over the country and North Carolina has over 90 operating right now. https://ncsbha.org/school-based-health-centers/
Tiffany Kreck, executive director of Health Choice Maine, shared the details about this jaw-dropping story with leaders of HEALNC. Health Choice Maine is consulting with the Sack family and helping them pursue legal recourse. Kreck has interviewed Mr. Sack, his daughter, and other key individuals involved in this situation.
Sack reported that he didn’t know there was a health center at the school. His daughter claims she herself signed a single consent form her Sophomore year, but this form must be renewed each year. Sack and his wife have not signed any consent to treat forms.
Not only was Sack alarmed that he was not consulted, he was also concerned that the unlabeled bag of drugs was sent with no child-resistant container as he has younger children. When he reached out to the Bulldog Health Center, they told him that they were allowed to give his daughter medication without informing him. They refused to address the fact that the anti-depressants were unlabeled and were not in a safety container.
Mr. Sack pulled his daughter out of school while he investigated the situation further. In response to this, the school allegedly called Child Protective Services on the family. According to the social worker who visited with the Sacks and spent six hours interrogating them (separate and together), he concluded that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the family and that the school had frivolously reported the family in retaliation to Mr. Sack’s decision to take his daughter out of school.
During Kreck’s investigation, she and Sack obtained and reviewed his daughter’s Medicaid records, finding that none of the clinic appointments or prescriptions were documented, which led to another key player in this saga.
Health Choice Maine talked with the pharmacist with whom the Bulldog Health Center wanted to have an exclusive contract. The SBHC had reached out to the pharmacist over a year ago and asked him to fill their prescriptions and deliver them to the clinic. The SBHC wanted the pharmacist to sign a non-disclosure agreement and agree to run the prescriptions under the “grant applicator’s name” and not the student’s name. As a result, parents of students who get prescriptions through the SBHC cannot obtain copies of the billing statements. Therefore, they don’t see the services and medications their children are being prescribed.
HEALNC has contacted the Bulldog Health Center to confirm the story. The receptionist stated that they have “no comment.” When questioned further, we were given the name of Deanna Staples in the health center’s home office. We left a message and haven’t heard back as of this writing.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Children
Health Choice Maine, Children's Health Defense, and Stand For Health Freedom have developed strategies for protecting your children. Health Choice Maine has designed temporary tattoos that say, “MY PARENTS DO NOT CONSENT/DO NOT VACCINATE” To order the tattoos, email info@healthchoicemaine.org. A donation is appreciated.
Justine Tanguay, an attorney with Children’s Health Defense, has been warning parents about these consent forms, “One form they may receive at the start of the school year is a blanket consent form, and if they sign it, they are basically abdicating their parental rights to make medical decisions for their kids. The school won’t need to reach out and ask, ‘Hey, can we test your child for whatever thing?’ No, they’ve signed the form; they’ve already said, ‘Do whatever you want.’” Tanguay wants parents to understand that if they unknowingly signed one of these forms they can revoke their consent and can use this sample “non-consent" form as a guide.
Stand For Health Freedom recommends the following steps to protect your child from what they call “the anti-parent agenda.”
- Be in the know. Familiarize yourself with the Stand for Health Freedom toolkit for SBHCs, including reasons why you should be concerned.
- Check paperwork. Check your child's back-to-school paperwork carefully, looking for any form asking you to give consent for your child to be treated medically at school.
- Don’t be afraid to ask. Ask your school nurse or an administrator if your child’s school operates a School Based Health Center or if there are any licensed professionals treating children at school aside from the school nurse.
- Parents have rights. Tell your school you want to be notified before any non-school employee has access to your child in any capacity, making it clear that you do not consent for your child to be assessed or treated by anyone not employed by the school.
- Teach your children. Tell your child to let you know if anyone attempts to assess them or provide treatment, and advise them to refuse to participate in any surveys, discussions with, or visits by anyone who is not their teacher or the school nurse.
School Based Health Centers are a growing concern to medical freedom advocates who fear that schools will give children vaccines, medications, and counseling without parental knowledge or consent. HEALNC is researching to determine where the SBHCs in NC are located, the services they provide, and how they are funded. If you have had an experience with a SBHC, please let us know by emailing info@healnc.net.
For more information about SBHCs, check out Stand for Health Freedom’s fact sheets.