Helping Parents with Child Drugging Cases in Spring, Texas, Daycare Centers

Harris County, which is home to Spring, Texas, leads the state in drug-related deaths in 2023, according to an August 2023 story in the Houston Chronicle. With recent headlines about a 1-year-old boy dying from fentanyl at a daycare center in New York City, it’s understandable if parents in Spring, Texas, are concerned about drugs at local daycare centers.

As parents, we do everything to keep our children safe. And that includes shielding them from harmful substances like drugs. Unfortunately, little ones can b exposed to illegal drugs or vulnerable to drugging incidents from improper medication when daycare centers in Spring cut safety corners to keep up with the increasing childcare demands.

Our daycare injury lawyers are spreading the word to parents in Spring about these dangerous situations and the legal options you can take in the event that your child was drugged or improperly medicated at a local daycare center.

How Children in Spring are Exposed to Illegal Substances

It is no secret that the Spring community is growing. You can see that firsthand with the increased traffic on streets like Cypress Springs Road, Northgate Crossing Boulevard, and West Hardy. This growth also brings an increased demand for local childcare.

However, some daycare centers cut corners when it comes to hiring practices in order to meet increased demand and maximize profits. In some cases, daycare centers in Spring are allowing workers without completed background checks or adequate training to care for young children without any oversight from a daycare director or other qualified individual. These reckless business decisions compromise the safety of Spring children and may lead to unqualified workers and caregivers bringing illegal substances into a facility.

The following is a list of the kind of illegal or controlled substances that unqualified and unsupervised workers could bring into Spring daycare centers:

• Alcohol
• Opioids
• Stimulants
• THC, the psychedelic chemical that is found in marijuana
• Tranquilizing drugs like Valium and Xanax

In fact, our team helped families in Texas get justice when multiple toddlers were exposed to THC from eating a bag of drug-laced gummy candies that an unqualified worker brought into the daycare center.

Laws for Giving Children Medication at Daycare Centers in Spring

Our Spring daycare injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm have helped families hold negligent facilities accountable when children are drugged, even with their own prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medications. The most common scenarios include:

• Benadryl and other antihistamines that make children sleepy, thus easier to control
• OTC medications and dietary supplements like Tylenol and melatonin
• Daycare workers giving a child an incorrect dose of an approved medicine

Texas laws address drugging incidents or the improper administration of medication to children in Spring. Before administering any seemingly harmless OTC or prescription medication, childcare facilities in Spring are required to have permission from a child’s parent in one of the following ways:

1. Handwritten authorization that is signed and dated
2. An electronic format like DocuSign or a PDF file that is capable of being viewed and saved
3. Verbal consent via a telephone call, permitting a worker at the daycare center to administer a single dose of medication

Daycare centers in Spring are required to keep all medication permission records current for the children in their care. For example, the first two parental permissions at local daycare centers only last one year. Procedures should be in place for parents to review the records on an annual basis. 

There is an exception for emergency situations such as a child experiencing a severe allergic reaction, and their life is at risk. Daycare centers in Spring are permitted to give a child an EpiPen without preauthorization in these dire situations since the medicine is given to the child for its fast-acting and intended purpose.

Signs Your Child Has Been Drugged or Improperly Medicated at a Daycare Center in Spring

Learn the six signs that can indicate your child is being drugged or improperly medicated at a Spring daycare center in this article written by our daycare injury attorneys.

How The Button Law Firm Is Helping Spring Families After a Drugging Incident

Our team of experienced and compassionate Spring daycare injury attorneys at The Button Law Firm is dedicated to advocating for you and your family if your child was drugged or improperly medicated at a daycare center in Spring, Texas. We are ready to listen and fight to help your family get justice and move forward. Our attorneys at The Button Law Firm are recognized on the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers list, and we can help guide you after a traumatizing incident involving your child. We work on contingency, meaning we don’t charge you or collect any upfront fees to get started on your case. Call us at 281-857-6116 or fill out a contact form for a free consultation.