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Foster Mother’s Pain Patch Is Believed Responsible in 6-Year-Old Girl’s Death
Foster Mother’s Pain Patch Is Believed Responsible in 6-Year-Old Girl’s
Death http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/ny...l?ref=nyregion By AL BAKER Published: May 20, 2008 A foster mother in Harlem has been arrested and accused of accidentally killing a 6-year-old girl in her care by placing a powerful medicinal patch on the child’s neck as treatment for pain, the authorities said on Monday. The girl, Taylor Webster, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan on Sunday evening, and her foster mother, Joanne Alvarez, 54, was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter, which is a felony, criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child, officials said. The pain-relieving patch, known as a fentanyl transdermal patch, delivers through the skin a narcotic drug that is more powerful than morphine, said Allen J. Vaida, a pharmacist and the executive vice president of the Institute for Safe Medical Practices, a nonprofit organization. Ms. Alvarez also gave the child some Motrin by mouth, the police said. A doctor had given Ms. Alvarez a prescription for fentanyl to treat some chronic pain after a 2000 accident, said an official in the office of Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, which is investigating the case with the police. The strength of the prescribed dose is based on the patient’s weight. Ms. Alvarez weighs 260 pounds; Taylor weighed 59 pounds. A detective found that the label on the fentanyl stated that it should be kept out of the reach of children, the official said. The city medical examiner’s office performed an autopsy on Monday, but further medical tests and a police investigation are necessary to determine the cause and manner of the child’s death, said Ellen S. Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, speaking after a budget hearing on Monday, said: “The mother gave the child Motrin and also put one of these medical patches on the child, and it appears that this may have caused the child’s death. So, it’s under investigation.” Mr. Kelly said the criminal charges were based on the severity of the negligence. “You can have negligence and you can have gross negligence that rises to the level of criminality,” Mr. Kelly said. “It really has to do with the gross aspect of the negligence, as to whether or not it rises to the level of criminality.” Ms. Alvarez, who entered no plea during her arraignment Monday evening in Manhattan Criminal Court, was being held in $500,000 bail. Sharman Stein, a spokeswoman for the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, would say only that the incident was under investigation. Assistant District Attorney Penelope Brady said in court that the child-protection agency had investigated Ms. Alvarez three times. Two inquiries involved accusations of excessive corporal punishment of Taylor, most recently in April, and one inquiry is still open, Ms. Brady said. But Ms. Alvarez’s lawyer, Arnold Levine, said he was aware of only one complaint, which he described as unfounded. Assistant District Attorney Brady said that Ms. Alvarez “could not possibly have been more reckless” with Taylor. But Mr. Levine said that his client had never intended to hurt the child, nor had she anticipated the terrible outcome. “I think this case is grossly overcharged,” he said. Mr. Levine said that Ms. Alvarez had even planned to adopt Taylor, in addition to the five biological children and two adopted children she already has. It was unclear why Taylor was in foster care or how long she had been in the care of Ms. Alvarez. Children are generally placed in foster care after a determination is made by the child welfare agency, and confirmed by a family court judge, that they cannot safely remain with their parents, Ms. Stein said. She said that the agency’s procedures gave foster parents the authority to consent to most types of routine and emergency medical treatment for children in their care, though the policy calls for birth parents or guardians to be consulted about all significant medical issues on an individual basis when applicable. The events began in Ms. Alvarez’s 11th-floor apartment at 1345 Fifth Avenue, in the Taft Houses, where she lives with an adult child, the police said. About 11 p.m. on Saturday, Taylor complained of neck pain. Ms. Alvarez put the pain patch on Taylor’s neck, in the area of her carotid artery, and gave her the Motrin, the police said. About 3 p.m. on Sunday, the girl was found unconscious in her bed, the police said. A call was made to 911, and the girl was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:10 p.m., officials said. Fentanyl is a prime drug for cancer patients, and when administered through the skin is released slowly into the bloodstream and works to salve continuous pain. But it is for patients who are opiate-tolerant, those who have already taken morphine or other high-dose narcotics, and because it works by reducing respiratory function it must be used with care, said Mr. Vaida, the pharmacist. “It’s a powerful narcotic; it is more powerful than morphine,” Mr. Vaida said, adding that there were cases on record of people dying from its misuse. A makeshift memorial with candles, flowers and teddy bears was set up at Ms. Alvarez’s building. Some residents said they believed that Ms. Alvarez was a foster mother to several children. Precious Henry, 21, who said she learned of Taylor’s death by telephone, said that she had known Taylor since she was a baby and that she had occasionally been her baby sitter. She said Ms. Alvarez was a nice woman who worked and “took care” of her children. Taylor “was a happy little girl,” Ms. Henry said. “She loved everybody, all the people she knew.” Sushil Cheema, Colin Moynihan and Carolyn Wilder contributed reporting. An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and the Child Protection "INDUSTRY" Child Protective Services Does not protect children... It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even killed at the hands of CPS. every parent should read the free handbook from connecticut dcf watch... http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US These numbers come from The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN) Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS Perpetrators of Maltreatment Physical Abuse CPS/Foster care 160, biological Parents 59 Sexual Abuse CPS/Foster care 112, biological Parents 13 Neglect CPS/Foster care 410, biological Parents 241 Medical Neglect CPS/Foster care 14 biological Parents 12 Fatalities CPS/Foster care 6.4, biological Parents 1.5 Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per 100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a bunch of social workers. THIS IS AMERICA'S HIDDEN HOLOCAUST Currently Child Protective Services violates more constitutionally guaranteed liberties & civil rights on a daily basis then all other agencies combined, Including the National Security agency/Central intelligence agency wiretaping programs… THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES BY: Nancy Schaefer Senator, 50th District of Georgia http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/...s.php?filter=6 This is Child Protection? By Gregory A. Hession, J.D. http://www.jbs.org/node/4632 Mercenary Motherhood: "Memoirs of a Babystealer." http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...nion-rightrail FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILU. A Brief Analysis of the Casey Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler http://www.nccpr.org/reports/cfpanalysis.doc HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the Madness DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families By Nev Moore Massachusetts News http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/...May/mayds4.htm A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster ca 30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children. 27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated 33% were receiving public assistance 37% had not finished high school 2% receive a college degree 50% were unemployed Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems, including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and impaired social relationships. Some experts estimate that about 30% of the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment than the general population. *Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support 80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system. The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade Horn of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should just be blown up. http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991 Four rigorous studies have found that at least 30 percent of America’s foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent housing. This study found thousands of children already in foster care who would have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in the first place. Front-page story in USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...m?csp=34#Close Read the studies online. Casey "alumni" study: "Improving Family Foster Ca Findings from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study," http://www.casey.org/Resources/Publi...lumniStudy.htm MIT study: "Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects of Foster Care," http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fo...arch07_aer.pdf Texas comptroller's "Forgotten Children" reports: www.window.state.tx.us/forgottenchildren The bottom line? - Child Protective Services and the Foster Care system for the most part turns out young adults that are nothing more than walking wreckage... CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS.... CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON... BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION... |
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