The Gauteng High Court has ordered that a four-year-old boy, currently in foster care and who has various conditions resulting from in-utero drug exposure, may receive medical treatment from specialists, rejecting the mother’s application for an order that only she or a curator be allowed to decide on his treatment.
She had also asked that a curator be appointed to make decisions on his behalf and that his medical needs not be in the hands of his caregivers, reports the Cape Times, having accused his specialists of exposing him to harsh medication.
After his birth from his drug addicted mother, the child was identified with special medical needs, which his caregivers, who have applied to become foster parents, are currently addressing, with the help of a paediatrician.
In her written submissions to the court, the biological mother had asked that no medical decisions be taken by the caregivers in the absence of her written consent.
The boy was born while she was in a rehabilitation centre for methamphetamine use. Before admission and while pregnant, she had exposed him to narcotics in utero, within three months.
Five weeks after his birth, a paediatrician reported that the child had “problems with being inconsolable, especially in the early evening when he presents with severe crying episodes, clenching fists and arching his body backwards”.
These crying spells, which lasted for up to five hours, the court was told, were diagnosed as being consistent with drug withdrawal. Medication was prescribed to assist him through these difficult times.
The mother is concerned that he was prescribed Valium before a visit she had with him, as well as with the other medication prescribed, and believes the caregivers are breaching their duties by allowing him to receive this medication.
The mother had been admitted to the rehabilitation clinic as an alternative to a criminal sanction for stealing a car, and at the same time, had a protection order issued against her after threatening her own mother.
Before his birth, the child’s biological grandparents had asked a social worker to put the newborn in temporary safe care, motivated by the mother’s use of crystal methamphetamine. In addition, her first child had also been removed from her care.
The mother spent 17 months in the rehab centre, but after her discharge, again tested positive for methamphetamines.
In the meantime, the child was regularly seen by specialists who recommended extensive occupational and psychological therapy.
The mother had visited the boy under the supervision of a social worker, but the child did not respond well to these visits. Valium was prescribed to calm him down during these visits.
After one of the visits, he had to be hospitalised due to the emotional trauma.
One of his doctors insisted the visits be halted, saying that putting the child through the visits amounted to child abuse. The Children’s Court subsequently prohibited these visits from continuing.
The court concluded that the child is in good hands with his medical team and that the caregivers, under the Children’s Act, did not need permission from the mother to make medical decisions that were in the best interests of the little boy.
The mother’s application was subsequently turned down.
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