Chapter 11 - The toxicology call
The medical examiner called me twenty-three days after the funeral.
Dr. Felicia Grant.
I remember her voice because it was too gentle.
“Mrs. Miller, are you somewhere you can sit?”
I sat.
A sedating medication had been detected in both infants.
The same medication prescribed to Evelyn.
Levels were medically significant.
Not trace environmental contamination.
Not something produced naturally.
Not a normal infant treatment.
The retained bottle also contained the drug.
I stopped hearing for a moment.
Dr. Grant continued.
She cautioned that toxicology interpretation in very young infants required care.
Prematurity.
Metabolism.
Timing.
But in both cases, the medication was considered a major contributing factor.
Additional review remained.
Cause-of-death certification would be updated after full case conference.
I asked:
“Did it kill them?”
She did not give me the dramatic answer I wanted.
She said:
“We believe the drug exposure materially contributed to both deaths.”
Medical language.
Then:
“We are evaluating whether there were additional contributing sleep-environment factors.”
The bassinets had been appropriate.
No pillows.
No heavy blankets.
The twins were found on their backs.
Eventually the final conclusion would become clearer.
But that day I knew enough.
Someone had given my newborn sons an adult medication.
May you like
Both.
The night they died.
