Bryan C. v. Lambrew
Maine
Children’s Rights, alongside the New England-based law firm Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, P.A., and civil legal aid advocate Maine Equal Justice, filed this case against Jeanne M. Lambrew in their official capacity as Commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Todd A. Landry in their official capacity as Director of the Maine Office of Child and Family Services. The lawsuit challenges the unmonitored use of psychotropic drugs for children living in Maine’s care– representing 500 children in the state’s foster care system.
CASE DETAILS
- Venue
- U.S. District Court for the District of Maine
- Status
- Active
- Filed
- January 6, 2021
- Focus Areas
- Psychotropics, Child Health, Government Accountability
According to the complaint, three underlying gaps in the state’s practices are harming children when using powerful psychotropic drugs, including:
- The state does not adequately maintain, update, and disseminate essential medical and mental health records for children in foster care, such that caregivers and providers are not sufficiently informed about psychotropic medications to sufficiently care for them.
- The state does not require adherence to an informed consent policy that calls for prescribers and adults, with genuine input from youth, to consider fully the benefits and risks of psychotropic medications before and after authorizing prescriptions, nor it does allow a meaningful opportunity for individuals to object.
- The state does not adequately assure the secondary review of psychotropic medication to safeguard children from outlier and other dangerous prescription practices.
