Child care drug overdoses are more prevalent than believed
“He had so much love,” Zoila Dominici said of her 1-year-old son Nicholas who tragically passed away last week from fentanyl exposure. Nicholas attended Divino Nino, a home-based day care in The Bronx that was discovered to be operating as a drug den. The fentanyl fumes also hospitalized three other toddlers who had absorbed the harmful substance into their lungs. Unfortunately, incidents like this are more common than we would like to believe. A study published in the journal Pediatrics earlier this year revealed that between 2005 and 2018, there were 731 children aged 5 and under who died from poison-related incidents. The percentage of fatalities caused by opioids increased from less than a quarter to over half during that time span. The number of poisonings had actually been declining before the opioid epidemic due to child-proofing requirements on medication packages. However, we are now back to square one. Fentanyl and methamphetamine fumes can be fatal, even causing illness in police officers investigating these scenes. Additionally, the sheer quantity of pills consumed by most fentanyl users poses a significant risk to young children if one accidentally rolls away. The tragic death of little Nicholas Feliz Dominici, along with similar incidents, emphasizes that children are always the victims in these situations. John Walters, former director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, commented on the lack of caution displayed by drug users and addicts, which now exposes children to highly dangerous substances and increases the risk of overdoses. New Mexico is particularly affected by this alarming trend, with over 350 children under the age of four dying from fentanyl exposure in 2022. The day care center in The Bronx, where Nicholas attended, was reportedly being used as a storage facility for fentanyl dealers. Within the last 48 months, 49 children under the age of four in New Mexico have died from drug ingestion, according to Maralyn Beck, founder of the non-profit organization New Mexico Child First. Similar incidents have also occurred in cities like Portland, Oregon, and in the sparsely-populated state of Maine. Unfortunately, the actual numbers may be higher, as some hospitals do not include fentanyl in drug tests for children. The danger lies in the ease with which fentanyl can accidentally end up in the hands of young children due to the quantity of pills consumed by users. Comparatively, there were only 184 gun-related deaths among children aged 5 and under in 2021, half the number of fatalities caused by opioid poisoning. Yet, discussions on gun control dominate public discourse while the drug crisis is often overlooked. The Biden administration’s goal is to reduce overdose deaths by 13% by 2025, despite the staggering number of overdose deaths in 2022 reaching 110,000 nationwide. This laissez-faire approach to the drug crisis fails to prioritize the lives lost to overdoses. The widespread legalization, easy access to drugs, and social acceptance of drug use have all contributed to this dire situation. These child fatalities are just the visible part of a larger problem. Countless children live in households with addicted adults who are unable to protect them. States like Connecticut and New Mexico are now sending parents with newborns who test positive for drugs home from the hospital with a “plan of safe care” that lacks proper child welfare protocols or consequences for failing to ensure the child’s safety. Meanwhile, New York City has significantly limited drug testing for new mothers and infants. While it is impossible to know about every instance of drug use, we must take action to address the drugs we do know about. If we fail to do so, we are, unfortunately, responsible for the inevitable child overdose tragedies that will occur.
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