Drug & Device News

A New Jersey appellate court has determined that an expectant mother who takes doctor-prescribed methadone during her pregnancy can legally be held responsible for child abuse in that state for exposing her unborn child to a dangerous and addictive drug. DYFS v. Y.N., A-5880-11. The case brings up several questions, including these: Should an unborn child's welfare be protected over a pregnant woman's health, and what duty does a physician owe to his patient's fetus? In the New Jersey case, the woman had been advised that her use of methadone could harm her unborn child, but she chose to go ahead with the treatment. Her baby was born with symptoms of methadone withdrawal and had to be treated with morphine for 39 days following his birth. The appeals panel focused its inquiry solely on the child's welfare and was unswayed by the fact that the mother was taking methadone under the care of a licensed medical care provider who prescribed the drug to her to wean her off of heroin and cocaine. It distinguished a 2012 case in which a mother who was somewhat impaired due to the use of Xanax during her pregnancy was not found guilty of child abuse. The difference, said the court, was that the child born with Xanax in its system was not addicted to the drug, while the child in' DYFS v. Y.N. was born addicted to methadone.