2nd article on the Day Care Person charged with wrongful death/SIDS

[Guest guest]

Here is the 2nd article which was featured today.

http://www.ctnow.com.

Care Providers Consider Rejecting Some Infants

By LYNNE TUOHY

The Hartford Courant, Connecticut

February 01, 2001

The Connecticut Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Center emphasizes that " no one

is at fault'' when an otherwise healthy baby dies of this syndrome.

But a Connecticut jury's verdict, holding a Bolton day-care provider liable

for $800,000 in one infant's death, prompted many caregivers Wednesday to

reassess their own liability and the ages of babies they'll accept in the

future.

" I've already gotten calls from providers who are going to make changes in

the ages of the infants they'll accept,'' said Lynn Behrmann, president of

the Manchester Family Care Providers Association. " Some are looking at

[age] 6 months and up. There are a few who said a year. A few who have

babies that are supposed to start in February are seriously considering not

taking them.''

Tuesday's rare verdict also began stoking the perennial debate about

whether training beyond the basics of first aid and cardiopulmonary

resuscitation should be mandated for Connecticut child-care providers.

A Rockville Superior Court jury found Barbara Horne of Bolton negligent in

the death of 2-month-old Shelby LePage of Coventry, who died of SIDS during

her second day in Horne's care.

Although Shelby's mother, LePage, instructed Horne to let Shelby sleep

only in her portable car seat or in a baby swing Horne had at her home, the

baby was laid in a crib and died while asleep on her stomach. Shelby's

older brother, in Horne's care for two years, was with Horne when she

discovered that Shelby had died.

The cause of SIDS is unknown, but its incidence in the United States has

been reduced 42 percent since the American Academy of Pediatrics

recommended in 1992 that babies sleep on their backs.

A national campaign began two years later with the slogan " Back to Sleep.''

" The campaign has truly made a difference in keeping probably 2,000 or more

babies alive,'' said Judy son, executive vice president of the

national Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Alliance, based in Baltimore. " It's

not a guarantee. But it certainly has become the standard of care and it

should be followed. If a caregiver is not following the standard of care,

they will be subject to litigation. That's the society we live in.''

SIDS is the leading cause of death for babies under the age of 1, with most

incidents occurring in the age range of 2 to 4 months. Shelby's case also

fits with a recently detected phenomenon of babies dying of SIDS within the

first day or two of being placed with a care provider.

Dr. Henry Krous, director of pathology at Children's Hospital in San Diego,

has researched SIDS for two decades, and also serves on the county's infant

death review board. He said babies who are accustomed to sleeping on their

backs are at " substantially higher risk to die of SIDS the first couple of

times they are placed [on their stomachs].''

" We have seen a number of babies placed on their stomach by the day-care

provider and the baby died shortly thereafter, in the first day or two they

were in the care of the day-care provider,'' Krous said. " This phenomenon

is definitely recognized.''

son agreed. " We emphasize to families they need to communicate with

anyone watching their baby - whether it's a day-care provider or the

grandmother taking the baby for the weekend - everyone needs to be aware of

this. Those babies who are used to sleeping on their backs and all of a

sudden find themselves that first or second time on their stomachs really

are at the highest risk.''

Krous' comments dovetail with a study published last August in Pediatrics

magazine that revealed a disproportionate number of SIDS deaths are

occurring in child care, with 60 percent of those occurring in family

child-care settings -homes as opposed to commercial care centers.

Dr. Moon of the Children's National Medical Center in Washington,

D.C., said she expected to learn that 7 percent of SIDS cases were

occurring in child-care settings, based on Census Bureau and other data.

Instead, based on a study of 1,916 SIDS deaths, she determined the

percentage to be 20.4.

" It's truly a public health embarrassment, the extent to which day-care

providers are not aware of the well-documented relationship between sleep

positions and SIDS,'' said attorney Gerald S. Sack, who represents the

LePage family.

But, Sack said, Horne did not fit into that category of caregivers.

" This is not a care provider who should have known,'' he said. " This is a

case where she did know and didn't act. She knew the relationship between

SIDS and sleep position. She saw [shelby] on her stomach and chose not to

roll her over. She didn't want to wake her up.''

Horne could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Although SIDS also is known as " crib death,'' Sheila Coutant, director of

the Connecticut SIDS Center, stressed that SIDS can occur under many other

circumstances. The center is the official link between the office of the

chief state medical examiner and families who have lost an infant to SIDS

" I've had them die breast-feeding or on the father's shoulder,'' Coutant

said of cases she personally has come in contact with. " I have them in

strollers, car seats, sitting up, lying down. I had a grandmother who was

bottle-feeding a baby when it died.''

Coutant and others who train and work in the day-care field, said they fear

the chilling effects of the LePage verdict could lead to a dearth of

licensed child-care placements for infants, particularly those under 6

months old, and an increase in unlicensed care providers. " Because they're

licensed, they're liable,'' Coutant said.

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & UK

530-478-1242 Voicemail

http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm

" All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men ( &

women) do nothing " ...Edmund Burke

ANY INFO OBTAINED HERE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE

DECISION TO VACCINATE IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE.

Well Within's Earth Mysteries & Sacred Site Tours

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[Guest guest]

" I've had them die breast-feeding or on the father's shoulder,''

> Coutant

> said of cases she personally has come in contact with. " I have them

> in

> strollers, car seats, sitting up, lying down. I had a grandmother

> who was

> bottle-feeding a baby when it died.''

This is f***ing ridiculous!!!! With this many variables (different

caregivers, a variety of sleeping/waking positions, breast & bottle fed)

why not look at a COMMON shared experience: VACCINATIONS!!!!! I grieve

for the ignorance & greed that give rise to such tragedy.

Namaste, Gretchen

from Lexington, KY

Mama to Maya (5), Rhythm Joy (2), and Isabel (3 mos)

________________________________________________________________

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