Overmedicated and Undertreated:
How I Lost My Only Son to Today's Toxic Children's Mental Health Industry
"This is an important book, wonderfully done. Steven Francesco brings a unique and valuable hybrid perspective to the topic. He weaves a story with a powerful message for all involved in today's U.S. children's mental health world. His recommendations are well thought-out and merit serious consideration by parents and mental health professionals."
- Elisabeth Rosenthal, Senior Writer, New York Times
Recipient of the 2014 Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting
"Overmedicated and Undertreated is absorbing and deeply saddening. Steven Francesco's writing vividly captures the tragic consequences of an overly medicalized approach to treating young people with psychiatric problems and highlights the urgency of moving the mental health care of our children and adolescents in a new direction."
- Mark Olfson, M.D, Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center
Are You Worried That Your Child's Drug Therapy Could Be Dangerous? Are our doctors, drug and insurance companies and schools working together to give our children the care they need? Each week millions of parents struggle with these questions.
Would you like help with the many decisions needed to protect your child?
Overmedicated and Undertreated is the powerful story of one family's struggle with today's toxic Children's Mental Health Industry, which was lethal to their son.
What Steven Francesco learned - and you should know - is shocking:
- Over 4 million children are prescribed psychiatric drugs in the U.S. today, mostly by prescribers with little or no training in children's mental health.
- Over $20 billion of powerful, untested psychiatric drugs are prescribed to children annually.
- The vast majority of these drugs do not have FDA approval for prescribing to children due to the lack of safety and efficacy data. So, the prescribers are exploring the effects of the drugs, one child at a time, based on the FDA acceptance of "off-label" prescribing.
- Atypical antipsychotics prescriptions written for children and adolescents have exploded by over 600% since 1998. It's now the 3rd largest drug category in the U.S. This is the type of drug that caused his son's sudden death.
Although Steven Francesco has over 30 years of experience as a healthcare consultant and former pharmaceutical executive, he discovered - too late - how unscientific and self-serving the children's mental health industry has become when his 15-year-old son became a victim of the overmedication epidemic.
Overmedicated and Undertreated is a cautionary tale that serves as a powerful illustration of the damaging and deeply institutionalized conflicts of interest begging for reform in our current toxic Children's Mental Health Industry and provides important guidance on how to protect your children.
www.OvermedicatedandUndertreated.com; www.DoNoHarmNetwork.org
About the Author:
Mr. Steven Francesco is uniquely qualified to analyze, write about, and recommend reforms for the current children's mental health industry. He has over thirty years of experience in today's health care industry and deep functional knowledge of all sectors.
For the past four years, triggered by the tragic and sudden death of his son, Andrew, Mr. Francesco has dedicated his considerable experience and skills to seeking ways to prevent this type of lethal event from happening to other families.
Overmedicated and Undertreated: How I Lost My Only Son to Today's Toxic Children's Mental Health Industry has been favorably reviewed and frequently recommended for parents, mental health professionals, students and patients.
He is the president and founder of Francesco International LLC (www.franint.com), a twenty-one-year-old health care consultancy with a focus on converting prescription drugs to over-the-counter status. He also worked for pharmaceutical companies in senior management for nine years.
Mr. Francesco is a highly respected and active thought leader. He has testified five times publicly before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a broad range of healthcare policy issues and is a recognized expert on product life cycle issues. In addition, Mr. Francesco has authored over fifty articles and essays regarding the pharmaceutical industry.
Mr. Francesco has been an invited speaker in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Australia, Israel, Turkey, and Canada, and a frequently interviewed expert for national television, radio and print media.
Mr. Francesco graduated with honors from Columbia University, where he earned his B.A. and M.B.A. He also earned Vietnam Service and Campaign ribbons after serving a tour of duty in the U.S. Army as a medic in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Mr. Francesco speaks fluent French and passing German. He resides in New York City.
For more information on Mr. Francesco, please go to www.StevenFrancesco.com. For more on the issues in the book, please go to OvermedicateandUndertreated.com.
