10-Month-Old Baby Girl Exposed To Fentanyl In Methuen
METHUEN (CBS) -- A 10-month-old baby girl had to be revived twice after she was exposed to the opiate Fentanyl over the weekend, Methuen Police said.
Officers were called to a home on Treetop Way around 12:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon for a report that the baby was not breathing.
The little girl's heart stopped beating twice after she was transported to Lawrence General Hospital, but she is now in stable condition.
A hospital test found the powerful drug in her system.
She was flown to Tufts Medical Center to continue her treatment.
Family spokesman and neighbor Michael Quinn says the baby has been released from the hospital.
"By yesterday morning she didn't have the tube in, she was awake, she was alert and she was engaging with the family," Quinn said. "She's safe and being taken care of by one of the other siblings and her husband so that's the first step in this."
Quinn says the baby's mother has a history of drug use but is clean. "I don't know how frequently she's been tested, but I know she's been tested and nothing has ever shown up on any of her drug testing," Quinn said.
The Department of Children and Families is investigating the incident.
"The opioid epidemic knows no boundaries," Methuen Mayor Stephen Zanni said in a release Monday. "We must continue to be vigilant in ensuring that children do not have access to harmful substances and to do everything we can to fight the disease of addiction."
Authorities don't know how the drug ended up in the baby's system. Methuen Police Lt. Michael Pappalardo said there were "numerous items of interest that were looked at" in the home, but did not say whether or not drugs were found there.
No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.
Methuen Police also announced the seizure of $1.2 million in fentanyl elsewhere in the city Monday.
The 14 kilos of the drug were recovered after police arrested an armed suspect, Robinson Rojas, 32, of Queens, New York.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz reports
