Drug testing for Zoloft - mother taking sons medications

[teffy19712]

My DH and I believe that my step-son's mother is taking his perscription Zoloft. He was just release from a psychiatric hospital in the middle of May - on his two weekend visits with his father he has not brought him meds. with him.  We emailed his mother once to bring them - she didnt. The kid told her last weekend that we said to bring them - she didnt.

This is a case slowly making itself to custody battle. Will there ever be a way to not only get the kids Zoloft level tested but Momsters as well? We would volunteer to be tested if need be.


Thanks

[socrateaser]

>My DH and I believe that my step-son's mother is taking his
>perscription Zoloft. He was just release from a psychiatric
>hospital in the middle of May - on his two weekend visits with
>his father he has not brought him meds. with him.  We emailed
>his mother once to bring them - she didnt. The kid told her
>last weekend that we said to bring them - she didnt.
>
>This is a case slowly making itself to custody battle. Will
>there ever be a way to not only get the kids Zoloft level
>tested but Momsters as well? We would volunteer to be tested
>if need be.

In the future, please observe the mandatory forum guidelines for posting.

In order for evidence to be admissible, it must be relevant, competent, in proper form, and not subject to any exceptions.

If the mother has also been prescribed Zoloft, then she may also have it in her blood. What is to stop the mother from giving the child Zoloft prior to the test? It will be very difficult to ensure the competency of this evidence, even if you could obtain an order for the tests, because there is no method to prove when the Zoloft was administered, as long as it was administered in enough dosage to bring it to a normal blood level immediately prior to the test.

And how is this evidence relevant to showing that sometime in the past, the child was denied Zoloft, to the mother's advantage? It is not relevant, in fact the blood test proves nothing at all about whether the Zoloft was denied to the child, or that the mother took the Zoloft.

Since the evidence is neither competent nor relevant, it will not be allowed by the court -- and neither will an unnecessarily invasive blood  test.

[Kitty C.]

.....and tell me if I'm way out of line, please.

There are quite a few psychotropic drugs out there that require gradual weaning to be taken off of, as one of the side effects of abruptly stopping it is suicide or suicidal thoughts/ideations.  I'm not as familiar with Zoloft to know if it is one of them, but if it is and being given to a child, to abruptly withhold dosages so often could possibly have some very serious effects.  

Personally, if this is the case with this drug and happened often enough in my case, I'd be filing child neglect charges.  Because of possibility of suicide, this could be considered a life-threatening situation.  I was prescribed a drug with this type of side effect about 15 years ago, for a totally un-related cause, and NO ONE told me about it, not even my doc.  A nurse friend told me two days later and I stopped it immediately, as I hadn't built up a sufficient level in my system yet.  Then I proceeded to dump my doc and switch pharmacies.

PD, am I off base with this or do you know anything more on this reasoning?  

[socrateaser]

Nothing wrong with your reasoning. Zoloft, I believe requires a few days to reach full strength in the blood -- I don't remember if it can be discontinued ubruptly.

The trouble, however, is that the poster's facts suggest that the child is being routinely denied the prescription, and the poster wants to use a blood test to prove this. But, unless the court orders the child immediately into juvenile custody and a test run, what is to prevent the custodial parent from administering the drug prior to the test, so that when the test is done, it shows that the child has an adequate amount of Zoloft in his/her bloodstream?

The poster needs to get the CP to admit that she's using the prescription -- or the child, or someone else, to testify that the CP is taking it. Otherwise, the test is a waste of time.

Now, if the child were to be admitted to a psych ward, exhibiting suicidal tendencies, and a blood test revealed that the child had no Zoloft in his/her blood, THEN you would have the proof you want.

Anyway, it's kind of a chicken and egg problem, with no good solution that I can come up with -- if you figure out a strategy, by all means, post it.

[NoNicky]

Poster needs to read and learn about Zoloft.  Use of Zoloft in children is an "off-label" useage is not recommended or encourged by the manufacturer.  Anyone remember what happened with the off-label useage of Prozac in children?  I do.  My stepson went through that.  I'm so glad he lived through it.  Some children did not.  

Know the medications your children are on.  
Know the proper dosage.  
Insist that you get all medicines from the other parent in an ORIGINAL bottle.  

Use your rights as a parent to call and schedule an appointment with the prescribing doctor or at least have a correspondence with him.  Both would be ideal so that you could have a written record.  Routinely ask for updated information from their medical files from the doctor.  Anything you do not understand or question the wisdom of ask the doctor about.

NoNicky
For God has not given a spirit of fear; but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  1 Peter 1:6

[Kitty C.]

:-)