Pittsburgh parents charged after 2-month-old allegedly overdoses on methadone

(Fox 25 Boston)

A Pittsburgh man and woman are facing charges after their 2-month-old baby was allegedly revived by the rescue drug Narcan and tested positive for methadone.

Fox 25 Boston reported that a criminal complaint alleges the baby was brought to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC on Oct. 11 after the baby’s parents, Lorie Adkins and Erik Eakin, found him unresponsive. The baby went into respiratory arrest, the complaint stated, and the baby’s urine indicated he had been exposed to methadone. The complaint stated the baby’s condition improved with a dose of Narcan, the opiate antidote.

Adkins told hospital staff that she takes methadone daily and that her baby must have overdosed from breastfeeding, Fox 25 Boston reported. But the baby’s medical report stated that was unlikely because the level of exposure via breastfeeding would probably not have given the baby the symptoms he suffered.

The complaint stated that a caseworker for the Office of Children, Youth and Families told detectives he contacted staff at the Children’s Home, a local nonprofit that cares for medically fragile babies, who informed him the infant was not breastfed. Staff told the detective that while the baby was weaning off methadone, Adkins had to feed him formula because she was not producing enough milk to pump.

Fox 25 Boston reported that warrants have been issued for the parents. They are charged with endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person.