The Patriot Ledger
By Larry Diller
March 27, 2010

The twin murder trials of the parents of Rebecca Riley, who died at age 4 of an overdose of the psychiatric drug, clonidine, have cast a spotlight on the beliefs and practices of the doctor who prescribed the drug.

Kayoko Kifuji was granted immunity in both trials in exchange for her cooperation for testifying. Reactions from jurors, comments online and letters to the editor based on newspaper accounts of Kifuji’s testimony range from confusion, shock, and outrage directed at the doctor’s role in the tragedy.

Kifuji did go before a grand jury and was not indicted, avoiding any criminal prosecution for her actions. Massachusetts’ medical licensing board, the Board of Registration in Medicine (BRM) initially suspended Kifuji’s license to practice medicine. But after conducting an investigation the BRM fully restored Kifuji’s privileges. She is now back at Tufts Medical Center practicing child psychiatry without any restrictions, penalties or supervision.

Kifuji did not literally place the extra lethal doses of clonidine in Rebecca’s mouth which may explain why she was not criminally charged. Ironically, from testimony at the father’s trial, neither did Michael Riley. Still the jury found him guilty of murder. What’s more disturbing is the BRM’s decision to take no further actions and allow Kifuji unfettered practice.

The testimonies offered at the grand jury and BRM hearings were kept secret so the Riley trials offer the public the first details of Kifuji’s management of the Riley children. Here are some of the facts extracted from the trial transcripts:

Kifuji’s diagnoses were based entirely on reports coming from the children’s mother, Carolyn, herself diagnosed with mental illness and at times heavily medicated to the point of falling asleep in Kifuji’s office.

Kifuji essentially ignored late warnings from a school nurse about possible sedating over dosages to Rebecca and from a mental health counselor for Rebecca whom the mother fired after the counselor alerted the local child protective service agency about potential child abuse.

Kifuji believed testimony from the children as young as 3 regarding “hallucinations” about monsters to support the bipolar diagnosis while discounting any other information reported by the children as “unreliable.”

Kifuji repeatedly allowed, without drawing any effective limits, Carolyn Riley to increase the doses of clonidine she gave her children. For her last month of life, Kifuji overall prescribed 835 pills to Rebecca.

Read entire article:  http://www.wickedlocal.com/hull/news/opinions/x905411678/COMMENTARY-Wholesale-sedation-of-young-children-medically-morally-indefensible