Netherlands Panel Rejects
ADHD Diagnosis as a Mental Illness
The recent ruling of the Netherlands Advertisement Code
Commission (NACC) concerning the diagnosis of
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be a
first step toward exposing in the United States what many
experts long have argued is a fraudulent diagnosis.
As the result of a lawsuit filed by the Dutch chapter of the
Citizens Commission on Human Rights, an international
psychiatric watchdog organization, the NACC ruled that, "The
information that the defendant [the Netherlands Brain
Foundation] presented gives no grounds for the definitive
statement that ADHD is an inherent brain dysfunction. …
Under the circumstances, the defendant has not been careful
enough and the advertisement is misleading."
The NACC explained in its ruling that, "The defendant states
in her statement that ADHD is an inborn brain dysfunction
and [we] can rely on the results of scientific research and
scientific articles about the cause of ADHD. The information
that the defendant presented does not provide sufficient
grounds for the definite statement that ADHD is an inborn
brain dysfunction. While searching for the cause of ADHD,
the different research projects give different
possibilities. There is no unequivocal opinion on the cause
of ADHD in the papers that the defendant presented."
In short, "scientific" data presented to show that ADHD is a
mental disorder was not convincing and the NACC ordered the
Brain Foundation to cease false claims to the contrary in
its advertising.
Insight has reported extensively on the alleged ADHD
diagnosis, including statements by some of the top U.S.
medical experts, that are in line with the Dutch
government's ruling. For instance, David Satcher said in his
1999 Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health that, "There
is no definitive lesion, laboratory test or abnormality in
brain tissue that can identify the illness." And the 1998
Consensus Development Conference on the Diagnosis of
Treatment of ADHD, held by the National Institutes of
Health, states: "We do not have an independent, valid test
for ADHD, and there are no data to indicate that ADHD is due
to a brain malfunction. … Finally, after years of clinical
research and experience with ADHD, our knowledge about the
cause or causes of ADHD remains speculative."
Wolfowitz Praises Moderate Islam in 'War on Terror'
Speech
In a recent speech on "U.S. Relations With the Muslim World
After 9/11" at the Brookings Institution in Washington,
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz praised Turkey and
Indonesia, while warning that U.S. support of moderate
Muslims will be crucial in the "war on terror." Wolfowitz
said, "There is a dangerous gap between the West and the
Muslim world. We must bridge this gap, and we must begin to
do so now." It's not "a clash of civilizations," he
explained, but "a collision of misunderstanding."
Wolfowitz praised Turkey, a secular state, for being a
steadfast U.S. ally and for reaching out to "address broad
political reform by granting television, radio-broadcasting
and education rights in Kurdish and other regional
dialects." He called for bringing Turkey into the European
Union, saying that "in the long run, the way to defeat
extremism is to demonstrate that the values that we call
Western are indeed universal; to demonstrate that the
benefits we enjoy — the benefits of a free and prosperous
and open society — are available to all Muslims. Never has
our stake in Turkey been greater." He spoke of Turkey's
"historic commitment to modernity" and said "moderation
deserves support and vindication."
A former ambassador to Indonesia, Wolfowitz also praised
that country for taking steps toward democracy and away from
radical Islam. The national legislature there recently
rejected adoption of Islamic Shariah law as Indonesia's
national law. Citing this, Wolfowitz emphasized that, "If we
are serious about opposing terrorism, we also must be
serious about helping Indonesia in its quest for a stable
democracy and a stable economy."
He added, "This is a debate about Muslim values that must
take place among Muslims. But it makes a difference when we
recognize and encourage those who are defending universal
values. And, when we give them moral support against the
opposition they encounter, we are indeed helping to
strengthen the foundations for peace."
Wolfowitz singled out for praise Shayk Muhammad Kabbani of
the Islamic Supreme Council of America, who was one of the
few Muslim leaders warning about radical Islam even before
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Kabbani was made to pay
the price for voicing this concern. As Wolfowitz pointed
out, "Following his message, some Muslim organizations here
in the United States publicly condemned him for 'false and
defamatory allegations against the Muslim community' and
organized a boycott against him."
Since 9/11, some of the very Muslim organizations that
condemned Kabbani have had broad access to members of the
Bush administration, including the president, while Kabbani
largely was ignored.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), for example —
whose director, Salam Al-Marayati, recently criticized
Wolfowitz at the Islamic Society of North America's 39th
annual convention — got meetings with high-ranking Bush
administration officials despite the fact that MPAC
expressed its "firm support" for University of South Florida
professor Sami Al-Arian, who has been implicated in raising
funds for the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Kelly Patricia O'Meara is an investigative reporter and
Zoli Simon is an intern for Insight magazine.