Mother Sentenced 20 Years for Killing Daughter with Morphine in Breast Milk - The La

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Mother Sentenced 20 Years for Killing Daughter with Morphine in Breast Milk


Mother Sentenced 20 Years for Killing Daughter with Morphine in Breast Milk - The Latest Drug War Tragedy
Jan Frel | April 4 said:
A South Carolina judge has sentenced a former nurse to 20 years in prison for killing her six-week-old daughter with what prosecutors say was an overdose of morphine delivered through her breast milk. It appears to be the first prosecution of a mother killing her child with illegal toxins in her breast milk.

From the AP [3]:

An autopsy found a level of morphine in the baby's body that a pathologist testified could have been lethal for an adult. With no needle marks on the child's body, authorities decided the drugs must have gotten into the infant through her mother's milk, prosecutor Barry Barnette said.

A review of her medical records showed [Mother Stephanie] Greene carefully hid her pregnancy from her primary doctor. After a home pregnancy test showed she was pregnant, she told her primary doctor she needed to go to a gynecologist for a birth control. She then got prenatal care from that doctor while not telling her all the painkillers she was taking. She also skipped appointments with her primary physician when it was obvious she was pregnant and sent her husband to pick up her painkiller prescriptions, Barnette said.

It's a tragic story, and it could have been prevented in a society that doesn't stigmatize opiate addiction [4], jails chronic drug users [5], ostracizes pregnant addicts [6], and lacks the capacity to help mothers make important decisions and the health of their children. [7] How did Greene's addiction start?

Greene spent more than 10 years racked with chronic pain after a car wreck before her unexpected pregnancy with her husband in 2010, attorney Rauch Wise said. Society wants to portray people who need painkillers as drug addicts and horrible people, but Greene and others often are just trying to get through each day without debilitating pain, her lawyer said. "She needed those meds to get up in the morning and function. ... She was on total disability because of her pain, her fibromyalgia and all the other things wrong with her."

As Jag Davies recently wrote for AlterNet, the time is nigh -- tragedies like these are quite preventable...and it starts with ending the war on drugs [8].
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http://www.alternet.org/print/drugs...morphine-breast-milk-another-drug-war-tragedy

Links:
[3] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/04/woman-20-years-killing-daughter-morphine-breast-milk
[4] http://books.google.com/books?id=rd...q=opiate addiction america stigmatize&f=false
[5] http://www.alternet.org/story/104026/to_jail_or_not_jail_for_drug_relapse
[6] http://www.alternet.org/story/41917/pregnant_drug_addicts_aren't_child_abusers
[7] http://www.alternet.org/hard-times-...rges-pregnant-drug-using-women-hard-times-usa
[8] http://www.alternet.org/drugs/americans-want-end-war-drugs


Links 4, 5, 6 and 7 are even better than this article itself (much more so actually, as this article is more descriptive than an editorial). Link 4 is to the book Creating the American Junkie: Addiction Research in the Classic Era of Narcotic Control (a great, more analytical counterpart to the classic The Birth of Heroin and the Demonization of the Dope Fiend). Links 5, 6 and 7 are quick easy reads - and very well worth it!


My question:

Mothers taking methadone, even at high doses, have been proven to safely breast feed their newborns while continuing methadone (in fact it's recommended they continue methadone as it's much safer than stopping during pregnancy or while the child is still newborn and a toddler). Nonetheless, like the crack baby media scare, there have been similar scares regarding mothers and soon-to-be mothers on methadone.

Is it even possible for enough morphine to get into the breast milk to make a baby drinking the breast milk OD? Or is just this more stigma bullshit?

Honestly sounds like the latter to me, although I admit I don't know either way.
 
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Willing to bet the shirt off my back that the baby would still be alive and well today if it wasn't for this damn war on drugs, and all the damage it has caused to a supposedly "free" society.
 
So true, but I'm still doubting it was morphine in the breast milk that killed the baby. Much more likely there was some morphine ingest by the baby by mistake or god forbid intentionally given to the baby...
 
^I believe there is actually some significant science on the matter, hence my (and your own) suspicions. Too bad I don't know where to look off the top of my head. One of those cases where being lazy doesn't really help me at all :\
 
twenty years.. thats rediculous.. so she has to live with the fact that her daughter died because of her addiction and she has to rot in jail with no pain meds for her condition. Really what the fuck. Yet people that actually mean to kill people get and have gotten far shorter sentences. Wonder what the fuck that judge was thinking.. .
 
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It says her level of morphine could be lethal for an adult..same as anyone that's been taking high doses for years. Plus since they didn't find a needle mark that doesn't mean shit, like a needle is the only way to take morphine or something. Very sad story but I'm sure this all could of been prevented.
 
Crazy. I had my daughter on methadone and they said that breastfeeding was good for the baby, it actually might help with the w/d symptoms if your baby is showing them. I was told it was a minute amount that actually passed through. Still, when my daughter had thrush and couldnt breastfeed for two weeks i went to formula because i wasnt sure about the methadone passing through. I was on 320mg a day though so i figured better safe than sorry. Still, this is unfortunate i wonder if thats really what happened or maybe the mother gave some morphine to the kid to quiet her down or something? Who knows?
 
^^@iamthesuck - Yea, sad, but probably true. That's a lot more likely than that much morphine passing through the breastmilk... After all, we all know what was in all those teething and infant "cures" circa the turn of the 20th century :\ Even then, I still wouldn't simply blame the morphine the mother is taking that's causing such inhumane, abusive behavior on her part. Much more likely the mother's drug use exacerbates her own problems with raising children.

NotaCaterpillar said:
Crazy. I had my daughter on methadone and they said that breastfeeding was good for the baby, it actually might help with the w/d symptoms if your baby is showing them. I was told it was a minute amount that actually passed through.
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This is 100% proper medical advice. Pisses me off to no measure when expecting mothers are told otherwise, as it puts their baby at significant risks that are otherwise completely and totally avoidable, especially while they're carrying their baby and at the time of delivery. Want to cause the newborn serious health problems? Detoxing the mother during pregnancy, especially abrupt cessation or cold turkey, almost guarantees this.

Glad you got good medical advice. And I'm happy to hear you had the courage to do what was best for your daughter (I know in the states there is a lot of grief given even in hospital by nurses and doctor to mothers on methadone - it can be utterly disgusting frankly, the shaming that goes on by so-called professionals). How's your daughter doing these days? I ask simply because I've known more than a dozen women on methadone while they were pregnant and none suffered any problems. Those I still know well all have health, intelligent, happy children. Being a good mother's what really counts, and if methadone helps that happen so be it.
 
Just to clarify, i wasnt taking that much methadone to get high, im a fast metabolizer. Ive since tapered and im on a split dose of 117 mgs twice a day, i dont nod or feel high. Although, when my baby was in the nicu, after she was born, there was another mom on methadone who would regularly nod out on top of the crib ans while holding her baby. Really sad and the nurses were insensitive too. My daughter was being tapered on a morphine tincture and one nurse would say i have to go get her fix now! Shit broke my heart i was clean otherwise and its a doctor prescribed medication

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Toothpastedog, i couldnt believe how ignorant the doctors and nurses were. I was in labor for pretty much three days and was pushing her out and she got stuck. Should have probably had a c section but at this point it was too late and she couldn't go backwards or forwards.I was pushing for over 10 hours and both myself and my daughter's vitals were dropping. My mum overheard the doctor say "If we lose them we're probably better off because its just another methadonian who doesn't give a shit about the kid anyway." Immediately she said she had it on tape and was going to hold that Dr responsible if anything happened. Right away they brought in this vacuum and she was out within 3 minutes. Some people are just really incompassionate. As for my daughter she was a healthy baby, full term 7.5 lbs. She will be three later this year and she is advanced for her age if anything. She also has the best personality, even as an infant i couldnt ask for a better kid. Extremely chill, always smiling and happy. Of course she has her moments, when shes tired she can be a bit cranky but thats the same as anyone really. Basically i dont see any effect from methadone. Or marijuana which i used for part of my pregnancy, and which has been proven not to effect the fetus. But the bias towards that is for another thread lol
 
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Aw thanks you guys! I still feel kinda guilty about my daughter going through withdrawal but i think i made the right choice. She very likely wouldnt be here if i had decided to stop the methadone. And if she wasnt here, i dont think i would be either.
 
NotaCaterpillar said:
As for my daughter she was a healthy baby, full term 7.5 lbs. She will be three later this year and she is advanced for her age if anything. She also has the best personality, even as an infant i couldnt ask for a better kid. Extremely chill, always smiling and happy. Of course she has her moments, when shes tired she can be a bit cranky but thats the same as anyone really. Basically i dont see any effect from methadone.
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For all the doubters and disbelievers and bigots out there! :p:sus:8)

You did the right things NotaCaterpillar, without a doubt. Most important thing for a new born is to have a good mother. You, my dear, are a good mother Miss Caterpiller! <3
 
NotaCaterpillar said:
Just to clarify, i wasnt taking that much methadone to get high, im a fast metabolizer. Ive since tapered and im on a split dose of 117 mgs twice a day, i dont nod or feel high. Although, when my baby was in the nicu, after she was born, there was another mom on methadone who would regularly nod out on top of the crib ans while holding her baby. Really sad and the nurses were insensitive too. My daughter was being tapered on a morphine tincture and one nurse would say i have to go get her fix now! Shit broke my heart i was clean otherwise and its a doctor prescribed medication

Edit
Toothpastedog, i couldnt believe how ignorant the doctors and nurses were. I was in labor for pretty much three days and was pushing her out and she got stuck. Should have probably had a c section but at this point it was too late and she couldn't go backwards or forwards.I was pushing for over 10 hours and both myself and my daughter's vitals were dropping. My mum overheard the doctor say "If we lose them we're probably better off because its just another methadonian who doesn't give a shit about the kid anyway." Immediately she said she had it on tape and was going to hold that Dr responsible if anything happened. Right away they brought in this vacuum and she was out within 3 minutes. Some people are just really incompassionate. As for my daughter she was a healthy baby, full term 7.5 lbs. She will be three later this year and she is advanced for her age if anything. She also has the best personality, even as an infant i couldnt ask for a better kid. Extremely chill, always smiling and happy. Of course she has her moments, when shes tired she can be a bit cranky but thats the same as anyone really. Basically i dont see any effect from methadone. Or marijuana which i used for part of my pregnancy, and which has been proven not to effect the fetus. But the bias towards that is for another thread lol
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That's disgusting... did you report the doctor?
 
Yeah that is fucked. They were just going to let you die when there was a quick fix available. They had to get their sexual kicks in from leaving you there for 10 hours...
 
Tried to report them but they denied it and my mum didnt really get it on tape so we didnt have proof. Sucks i hate to think what wouldve happened if my mother wasnt there.

And when i first got to the hospital before my mum got there they just left me in a room alone for ages. I remember trying to get an epidural and they said i needed an iv of fluids first so i was like okay can we start that then? They said yes wait and left. I was screaming for them after a while, saying hello can someone please help me!? Out into the hall and everything and i was just ignored. This was at a major nyc hospital too, they run a whole bunch of mmt clinics. Youd think they would be more enlightened, right? Had to jump through so many hoops just for them to release my daughter to me. So any mums on mmt i feel for you! Fight the ignorance and educate others!
 
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NotaCaterpillar said:
Tried to report them but they denied it and my mum didnt really get it on tape so we didnt have proof. Sucks i hate to think what wouldve happened if my mother wasnt there.

And when i first got to the hospital before my mum got there they just left me in a room alone for ages. I remember trying to get an epidural and they said i needed an iv of fluids first so i was like okay can we start that then? They said yes wait and left. I was screaming for them after a while, saying hello can someone please help me!? Out into the hall and everything and i was just ignored. This was at a major nyc hospital too, they run a whole bunch of mmt clinics. Youd think they would be more enlightened, right? Had to jump through so many hoops just for them to release my daughter to me. So any mums on mmt i feel for you! Fight the ignorance and educate others!
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Not unusual at all, again. Even in hospital that should know better because they run mmt clinics. Gotta be very careful when you're expecting on MMT, and even with the best preparation this kinda stuff is likely to happen. Sad. But hey, you and you girl made it, so fuck em'.
 
NotaCaterpillar said:
My mum overheard the doctor say "If we lose them we're probably better off because its just another methadonian who doesn't give a shit about the kid anyway."
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Oh my, what an asshole!

I think I would have lost it (and subsequently banned from the hospital).

Well, you showed them. I'm glad your daughter is well.

Edit - I've had a similar incident with an ER physician, a few years back. I've never heard a doctor scream at the top of his lungs at a patient before - accusing me of malingering and calling me names. In truth, I wasn't faking anything. But he wasn't able to find any objective medical evidence, so I guess he deduced I was faking (if only). I understand ER staff can have some crazy-stressful schedules, but if you can't handle it without chewing out patients, perhaps it's time to switch careers.
 
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This doesn't make any sense. People have been breastfeeding their children while on opiates since time out of mind, and there has never been a problem with breast milk poisoning.
 
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