Doctor from Bunnik suspected of attempted murder of her newborn daughter and aggravated assault on son

The 35-year-old Sarah V. would have fed her daughter from her birth on April 20, 2020, for two months, highly diluted breast milk, to which the agent loperamide had been added. That antidiarrheal drug can cause constipation in babies.

The drug is said to have been discovered when doctors from the WKZ were investigating the deteriorating condition of the child. The girl was said to have developed a life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia and breathing problems as a result of loperamide poisoning. Due to the diluted breast milk, the girl became malnourished and developed a developmental delay, according to the Public Prosecution Service. According to the suspect, the child had a normal growth curve.

Because of the suspicions, the Public Prosecution Service has also reopened an older case against the mother. Six years ago she was suspected by Safe Home of abuse of her son, but due to a lack of evidence that case was closed in 2018. The Public Prosecution Service now suspects that she severely abused her newborn son at the time and that this could have been fatal.

After his birth on June 28, 2016, the boy was said to have been deliberately poorly cared for for four years. His weight remained behind, he developed intestinal problems and severe inflammation developed at the places where catheters had been inserted into the child. As a result, he had to be hospitalized several times for medical procedures. By not paying enough attention to basic care, such as changing bandages and plasters, the boy would have remained unnecessarily ill and needed medical care.

At the mother’s home in the freezer was a large number of bottles with expressed breast milk, in which a very high concentration of loperamide was found. Empty and half-empty strips of the drug were also found in many places: in her pump bag, her car, and in the trash. The mother would suffer from celiac disease. She is said to have taken loperamide because of this chronic intestinal condition.

According to the defense, the loperamide would have reached the baby through the expressed breast milk. The lawyer also says that he has found an expert who confirms that this is indeed possible. And due to an abnormality in the woman’s body, her breast milk may have been thinner and more watery than usual, she argued.

According to the defense, the allegations of the Public Prosecution Service are not correct. “My client still had the breast milk in the freezer. She would have thrown it away if she had consciously added something. She herself asked for an examination of the milk. Why should she put that milk in the spotlight, if she deliberately polluting,” lawyer Sassen asked those present.

According to Sarah V., the loperamide would have been responsible for the poor medical care for the son through the mother.

Why the doctor would have wanted to harm her babies was not clear today. There are indications that she may be suffering from ‘Münchausen by proxy’ syndrome, a psychological disorder in which parents want to injure their child. However, experts say that they can only give a verdict on this if the woman is found guilty. This is remarkable, because any disturbance affects the sentence demanded and the final sentence.

The woman herself says that although she has holes in her memory, she cannot imagine that she has done anything to her children. Because of the previous events surrounding her son in the WKZ, she experienced the hospital as a hostile environment. The corona measures in force at the time made it even more difficult. Under pressure from the hospital, she was said to have reluctantly agreed to express milk for her daughter, which she said was very tiring.

The frail Sarah V. explained in court that she is not adhering to her diet and is controlling her bowel disease by taking loperamide when she has diarrhea. But according to the OM, this is not an explanation for the high concentration of the drug that was found in her daughter’s blood. Then the doctor should have taken so much loperamide that she herself would develop symptoms of poisoning.

As a doctor, she should also have known that administering diluted breast milk is harmful to babies, say the prosecutors. They also made it clear that medical experts should be consulted for a proper assessment of the case. Doctors who have previously dealt with the children will also be asked to study each other’s conclusions.

Partly because of this, the case will be dealt with substantively at the end of this year at the earliest. According to the defense, there is a good chance that V. will not be able to return to her profession as a doctor due to the slow handling of the case. According to her lawyer, she will already lose certificates and would have to do her entire study again.

The woman may await her trial in freedom under certain conditions. She is only allowed to see her three children under the supervision of people from Samen Veilig, or in the presence of relatives. In an emotional statement, she asked the court to lift those strict conditions and let her live with her family again.

“My life has been damaged beyond repair, but that of my children has to continue. If they don’t come home, the consequences will also be irreparable for them,” she argued crying. The Public Prosecution Service does not oppose a more flexible arrangement with the children, as long as there is sufficient supervision. But according to the prosecutors, there are too many serious objections to let the children live with their mother again. The court wants to think about it carefully and will announce a decision next Thursday.