In the Local News....

This is so very sad. I don't know what to say other than I feel so bad for this young woman. I think she has been punished enough and if you could just see her face and her sympothy for what she accidently did, you all would agree too. Its sad, but to me it shows how Doctors can be so dumb not to give the baby proper treatment and pain medications for the baby. Here is the story so you understand what I'm talking about..
 







Mother charged in drug death of 5-month-old Woman accused of giving boy methadone could face up to 10 years if convicted
BY STEVE REEVES Of The Post and Courier Staff
 
A West Ashley woman is facing a felony charge after she allegedly caused the death of her 5-month-old son by giving him methadone, a powerful narcotic used to treat drug addiction.
Jamie Danielle Hayes, a recovering heroine addict who has a methadone prescription, sat quietly in a courtroom Wednesday afternoon as she waited for her bond hearing to start. The 27-year-old woman sat quietly, alternately staring at the floor and sobbing into her hands.
Hayes later nodded nervously as Magistrate Linda Lombard asked if she understood the charges against her. Lombard set Hayes' bail at $75,000 on one charge of unlawful conduct toward a child.
Hayes' son, Matangi Carlos, died at St. Francis Hospital on April 7. Hayes had brought him to the hospital after he stopped breathing. Hayes told doctors, and later investigators for the Charleston Police Department, that she had rubbed a small amount of liquid methadone on her son's gums because he was having teething pains.
But authorities said an autopsy and toxicology testing cast doubt on Hayes' story.
"The amount of methadone in the child's system was far greater than the amount would have been had she simply been rubbing it on his gums," said Sgt. Michael Gordon, a detective with the Charleston Police Department.
The autopsy found that the methadone level in Matangi's body was "toxic and lethal."
Gordon said police met with the solicitor, the coroner and other officials before deciding to charge Hayes with unlawful conduct toward a child, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, instead of charging her with a more serious crime.
"Based on all of the available information, that was the charge the solicitor thought was appropriate," Gordon said.
Methadone is a narcotic most commonly associated with heroine addiction. Federally regulated and strictly controlled, methadone is often prescribed to drug addicts to help wean them off heroine or prescription narcotics. Methadone was developed in the 1940s as a synthetic version of morphine and is also used as a pain killer.
Ed Johnson, the administrator of the Charleston Center's opiate treatment program, said methadone is a powerful drug that when used properly is effective for its intended purpose. But misused, he said, the drug can be dangerous.
"It's like any prescription drug," Johnson said. "It's serious. Methadone is pretty strong."
Hayes' brother said his sister has been free of heroine for approximately three years and is close to being taken off methadone. Trey Hayes said his sister's child had been sick with pneumonia and, despite several visits to the doctor, he was not getting better. He said his sister used a small amount of methadone as a last ditch effort to ease her son's discomfort.
"He was crying and crying, and she didn't know what to do," Trey Hayes said. "She didn't mean for her baby to die."
The baby's father is a commercial fisherman in Florida and could not be reached for comment. Trey Hayes said his sister was trying to straighten her life out and was preparing to move to Florida to be with her son's father when the death happened.
"When people think of methadone, they think of drugs and liars, but my sister is a really good person," Trey Hayes said. "She didn't mean for this to happen."