EXCERPT FROM: Cincinnati.com
By Kimball Perry
The parents of a child allegedly drugged at day care are suing the day care and the church that owns it, accusing them of negligence, battery and negligent supervision.
The suit was filed Tuesday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court by Joseph and Andrea Coleman.
They claim their child was one of many given over-the-counter drugs to make them sleep during naps at the Covenant Daycare in the 7600 block of View Place Drive in Springfield Township. The day care is affiliated with Covenant Apostolic Church.
The lawsuit alleges day care workers provided some children unauthorized medicine. The suit doesn’t name the drug, but Springfield Township Police Chief David Heimpold said it was the dietary supplement Melatonin.
The Rev. Shelly Hendricks said there are 37 children enrolled at the center, but the suit seeks to make it a class action alleging “numerous minor children were given this unlawful medication … believed to be in the hundreds” since August.
Alan Statman, the attorney for the Colemans, said they are unsure if children were harmed by the drug “but that doesn’t make it any less wrong.”
Since the news of the allegations broke, Statman said his office has been contacted by about a dozen sets of parents.
“This is all happening now. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” he said.
The drug can cause side affects including dizziness, grogginess, headaches, confusion and others but the suit doesn’t note that any of the children suffered those symptoms, only noting the children were “exposed to the dangerous drugs” and some of their parents spent “large sums of money” for doctors and hospitals due to the medication.
Hendricks said two day-care workers were fired Monday as a result of the Dec. 13 incident.