This makes sense. It might deter this sort of thing from happening.

As far as the trace amounts of heroin and cocaine found in the baby's hair, they could have been transferred to the baby via the mother prior to birth - perhaps even before they knew they were expecting a baby. Back around 1995 or so, Egyptian mummies from around the time of Jesus were found with nicotine and cocaine in their hair, begging the question of who was trading with South America over 2000 years ago, but that's not the point. The drugs, especially as they were only found in trace amounts, could have been stored in the cells inside the developing folicles of the baby in utero.

The methadone was prescribed legally. There is no mention of illicit drugs being found in the home or in the parents, so again, there was absolutely not one shred of grounds for taking the baby away or even considering it prior to the murder. Dasha's suggestion would have possibly been useful though, and perhaps a social worker might have picked up on suspicious behaviour. Of course, unless they had been arrested for drugs in the past, a social worker would not have known, at least not if it had been in the USA - there is a doctor/patient privilege.

And the father should have been prosecuted.

I think the more important point is that this was one fucking freak incident. It's not like there's a predominance of people seeking treatment for heroin abuse feeding kids their freakin' medication, that I'm aware of anyway. Logic would dictate that they'd be stealing it from their significant other rather than "wasting" it on their child.

The point being, it doesn't create significant preponderance of reason for the state to start snatching up babies from recovering addicts. Obviously, if social services were even aware of the living situation and there was just cause to take the child, then yes, by all means remove the child.

Again, this was a freak thing, not a trend, and seeking treatment is not just cause (in and of itself, and that's what's important here) to take someone's child. Also, the pair in question are fucking morons and should both be charged with murder as far as I'm concerned.

Although it is not a 'common' occurance, it happens more than people realise over here in the UK.
The reason it isn't so widely known, is because quite often the issue is recognised and dealt with before the child dies, hence no media covergae and no public knowledge.

heroin and cocaine were found on the baby, who lived in the home.

(try giving the mummy explanation to a judge, see how far it gets you)

Kes, I think this is more what he was going for..."The drugs, especially as they were only found in trace amounts, could have been stored in the cells inside the developing folicles of the baby in utero." And I don't know how old the baby was, but couldn't the drugs also pass through breast milk? But it's all totally aside from the point.

The mummy explanation was not for a judge - it just illustrates the possiblity, made more probably by the fact there were no illicit drugs forund in the home or in the parents, that the baby got the drugs in the system in utero and it would appear once they found out about the pregnancy they kicked the illicit drugs. I used the mummy story only because having been a substance abuse technician when a few companies started using the tests I had to learn about them but some people here might not know that it's not like a uringe or blood test. It's in there for a LOONNNG time.

This does make me like the parents in the least. They killed the baby with their prescribed medication and no one but an Omniscient Deity had cause to remove the baby prior to it's murder. The fact is there is no evidence that illegal drugs were ever intentionally administered to the baby. Doesn't matter now. The legally prescribed medication was the means of poisoning the baby. The baby is dead.

Again, hopefully this case will inspire better monitoring and maybe more funding for the overworked understaffed and underpaid and often remiss social services people of the world.

well, your apparent confusion and weirdly annoyed attitude is clear. you're quoting someone else who posted, not the source article, which says clearly (if you had read it) that traces of heroin and cocaine were found in hair samples belonging to the child, who lived in the home and was under the care of these two people. If drugs are found on a child so young, it is the responsiblity of the adult. Period. Whether or not the drugs got there while the child was in utero is not mentioned in the article.

The drugs did not magically appear on this toddler and he/she most likely did not go out and score them. The drugs got there because of these two people.

Now, if it IS proved that the drugs ended up there while the child was in utero, different story. But that is not mentioned in the article.

I also (which you apparently also missed) never said I advocated taking children away from their parents just because the parent is a recovering addict. I have worked in several drug rehabilitation facilities and I know many addicts personally. I know addicts that are clean and ones that are not.

To say that all addicts should have their kids taken away is silly. And I never said that.

Is that clear enough for you?

The P.I.G.'s (Pharmaceutical Industrial Giant's) strike again. This story is abhorring, what gets me is the misunderstanding by not only the general public, yet & even more scary the psychiatric field. There are no actually plans for most people for being weened off of Methadone & most times they end up "having" (lets say being prescribed) to take more.

Don't get me wrong this was a criminal act & the mother should be held accountable like a drunk driver, however the facility prescribing both parents should also be held accountable as well. Sort of like how bars can be if they allow somebody to leave knowingly intoxicated. Stories like these make me realize that the general public is quick to accept the tip of the iceberg as the whole story, well look deeper. Open your eyes to how quick we are to medicate, whatever happened to the actual sincere practices of medicine, spiritual, physical, mental combined.

Just to stop anybody who thinks I'm opposed to medication, I'm not. However I do believe it should be a last course of action & when prescribed be required to have a written therapeutic plan on how long it is needed & what is the goal your trying to reach. Even when you get to a point of medicating their should be a plan to ween a human being off, if possible. Most times it is possible.

Okay, I'm done ranting. My apologies I just get upset when I see stuff like this.

Things like this make me wonder how people even find these threads. Are they actively looking? If so, do they not notice how old they are?

Um, thanks? That was nice of you to point out, should I delete my comments? What do you think? Guess their isn't any relevancy in what I wrote. Well I appreciate the kind words. You two do realize that this thread is over 4 years old, right?

Breastmilk transmission is unlikely, given that the parents apparently admitted to drugging the kid. Plus the child was 22 months old, and it's very unusual for children in so-called civilized societies to be breastfed past the one year mark. Not to say it doesn't happen, just that it's out of the ordinary.

The drug has most certainly NOT been proven to be harmless to a fetus, it has been proven to be less harmful than heroin or other opiates. BIG difference. Women on methadone have been found to have decreased fetal growth with reduced birth weight, length, and/or head circumference, and the children have been shown to demonstrate mild but persistent deficits in performance on psychometric and behavioral tests; they tend to have lower IQ's, and more issues with anxiety and aggression. Babies are also at increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome, jaundice, and thrombocytosis. Studies also show that methadone affects the reproductive functions in males. That certainly doesn't sound harmless to me. It's also not considered safe for anyone under 18, as it can cause respiratory depression, among other things.

Might be 4 years too late, but I couldn't let that one slide