I read several articles about this case, one named 4 different pain medications she was on. Two were patches; two were pills:
Fentanyl - Pain med that comes in Patch form. Often given to people who suffer from constant pain.
Duragesic - Pain med along the same type as Fentanyl.
Morphene - In pill form
Hydrocodon - also known as Vicoprofen
That list was copied/pasted from the article.
She fraudently obtained prescriptions for these medications.
Here's a quote from an article from a LLL spokeswoman:
Breast-feeding mothers are allowed to take morphine because low levels of the painkiller pass into the mother's milk when taken properly, said Diana West, a spokeswoman for La Leche League International, which encourages breast-feeding in new mothers.
"Most drugs like morphine pass so poorly through human milk that it is nearly impossible for a child to have a therapeutic dose, much less a lethal dose," West said.
I would assume there were two ways this could happen. 1.The morphine was given to the baby directly or 2.This woman was on so much medication I don't see how she could function.
I hope this does not hurt women who need pain med prescriptions while breastfeeding! I have no idea what this woman was thinking. I don't normally hear of women abusing drugs/meds also breastfeeding. They tend to formula-feed or their family ends up taking care of the baby.
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