Mom won't stop giving child harmful pills...what to do?

Question

This is a hypothetical situation:

A mother is giving her 14 year old child foreign herbal pills (i.e. Ayuvedic medicine) that she claims helps her developmentally delayed child with her problems, but the pills contain a high level of lead that is making her seriously ill. The doctor tries to convince the mom to stop giving her the pills, but the mother refuses. What can be done legally to help the child (i.e. for the child to stop taking pills), before resorting to placing the child in foster care?

Also, if the mom has other children (who she's not giving the pills to), will those children be taken away as well?

What are a doctor's legal obligations for reporting something like this to Child Protective Services? Is there a system in place to report something like this?

Please cite where you got your information. I tried to find information online but this is a specific case and I can't find my answers.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Seems pretty specific to be hypothetical to me...

I believe that a doctor has an obligation to report any form of abuse to the police. Because, my friend, a mother who gives her daughter something that can potentially kill her is physically abusing the child. No in-between. The investigation is done and if evidence proves so, the child in question (as well as any others) will be taken away from that person.

Report to any police station and they will take the proper measures to ensure the safety of the child(ren).

Answer 2

There is a child abuse hot line that can be found in any phone book.  Here is a link that gives the hot line numbers for all 50 states.

http://crime.about.com/od/v_childabuse/q...

Reports can be made anonymously, and if the information that you give them is not cause for removal of the child, then the child will not be removed. CPS does not often just rush in and remove a child, contrary to popular belief.  If it is believed that the family can rehabilitate the problematic behavior, then the child stays within the home and a caseworker visits the family and tries to change the unhealthy dynamics.  In the example that you gave, if a child was removed, it would most likely be the one getting the foreign herbal pills only, because the mother is not posing a threat to the other kids.  As far as the doctor's legal obligations, any professional who works with children is required by law to report even the suspicion of child abuse.

Answer 3

None of her children will be taken away from her but it does need to be investigated for the girls sake.  Call CPS and ask them for their advice.  Thank you for getting involved, I know that's hard to do.

What might be best to do is contact the school nurse or counselor and have them check it out.