Deadly Dose Of Daycare
Paula Burcham ran the kind of day care working mothers dream about.
Her house was immaculate, the children's meals were home cooked. Kids would line up to get a hug from "Mama Paula."
But the families who trusted Burcham didn't know she was giving over-the-counter medicines to their children without their permission. Some now suspect she was using the drugs to sedate cranky little ones.
On Aug. 15, Burcham was sentenced to eight years in prison for giving a 3½-month-old girl a lethal dose of Benadryl. And since Grace Olivia Fields' death in December 2001, her parents have found they are not alone in their loss.
https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/02/...ain571181.shtml
I found this on CBSNews.com and it really disturbed me. What are your thoughts about daycare workers giving meds to the children?
This just makes me angry that someone would go so far as to give enough over the counter meds to a child to get them to settle down. Many people trust day care workers to tend for their children and keep them safe, so they can work.
The day care workers should have no rights to give the children any kind of meds unless, the meds were prescribed by a doctor. I don't believe in medicating a child for any reason, unless it is for a severe medical condition, that requires the meds.
well mss i was going to speak my mind on this subject but ill let it slide and say not all child care workers are gone bad now mind you you have to do everything in your power to make sure your kids are safe but you can only do so much you have no super powers at that i will stop and in my final i will tell you that MY TRINI IS A CHILD CARE WORKER and a good on at that
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not all child care workers are gone bad |
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MY TRINI IS A CHILD CARE WORKER and a good on at that |
Max, chill man :. I notice that sometimes you give your opinions but you don't really read the whole story, you need to do that first in order to not get confused. Mss's thread was about that particularly article she posted, NOT about ALL day care workers. I suppose you felt oversensitive because of your girlfriend's job but please read the whole story before giving your opinion. Thanks.
Mss, I read the article. I think what this lady did was a terrible thing. I am sure she didn't mean to hurt anybody or kill anybody, but she needs to be sentenced by the law for what she did. It's is interesting to notice that most cases, these day care workers used over-thecounter medicine, nothing really prohibited...BUT the amount used and the mis-used I would say of these medicines, caused the death of so many kids! I hope it can be a lesson not only for the day care workers but also for parents who use cold medicines and other type of medicine when the kid is not sick, just to make him calm down. I think is just terrible!.
I do too, LDS. I don't see the need for a child care worker to 'chill' a very active child. If the woman in this particular case had that much of a problem with the child (or children) she should have quit keeping those particular children. Then, maybe, that little child's death might not have happened.
Can you imagine the anguish and grief these parents suffered?? A tiny, sweet little baby .... I can't imagine. And even that babysitter.. you know her heart had to break. What she did was wrong, I'm sure she knew it at the time and just didn't think she was hurting anyone. Very very sad.
Roz
I love the effects of cold medicine on a sick child. They calm down, and become pleasant...and sleepy.
Of course, to use the "medication" to drug a child to keep them in this state when they aren't actually sick? I've joked about that in the past. But I'm not sure that this care worker did not try that very thing.
Rather off topic, but... Not sure if this is really off topic or not, but I have a cousin who used to love Nyquil. He would pretty much guzzle the stuff. Loved what it did for him. We used to joke that he was addicted to the stuff. (We were kids.) Now, I think we were right. |