Utrecht doctor suspected of poisoning her own baby with anti-diarrhea medication

The Public Prosecution Service accused a 37-year-old woman from Utrecht of trying to kill her own two-month-old daughter by poisoning her when the girl was already ill. The suspect, Sarah V., was working as a doctor at the time. She was also alleged to have caused her son to become ill around the time of his birth in 2016, and investigators claimed she kept the boy sick for a period of four years.

V. is suspected of the attempted murder of her baby girl, and aggravated abuse regarding the young boy, who is one of her other children. The prosecutor in the case presented their opening argument at the District Court of Utrecht on Monday, where many people were present for the hearing.

The mother was allegedly caught with several bottles of heavily diluted breast milk which also contained large amounts of loperamide, a diarrhea inhibitor. The woman was said to have mixed this with her breast milk immediately after the girl's premature birth in April 2020. While the child was in an incubator, V. allegedly also brought the concoction to the hospital.

The suspect denied the accusations, and claimed that she was taking loperamide herself. She said it may have ended up in the breast milk as a result. "I didn't feel like I was taking any dangerous medication." She said that she kept swallowing the pills because she believed it was allowing her to continue breastfeeding.

“Maybe 60 pills a day,” she said when detailing the quantity of loperamide pills she ingested. She also indicated that her memory from that time is very fuzzy.

Two months after birth, a doctor from the children's hospital reported the incident to social services organization Veilig Thuis. The child had unexplained life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, breathing problems, and stunted growth and development. The girl's health improved when she was switched to bottle feeding.

Reports were also previously made about the son. V. severely abused him and provided him with inadequate care, the Public Prosecution Service alleged. This child also suffered from stunted growth and development, as well as intestinal problems. He was frequently hospitalized for treatment. The mother allegedly gave incorrect information to the doctors and did not properly implement medical advice. She was also accused of tampering with the boy's catheter, causing infections.

The Dutch Health Institute indicated that loperamide should not be given to children younger than two years of age, and should only be given to children younger than eight with a prescription or under medical supervision. Symptoms of an overdose include cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, a variety of gastrointestinal symptoms, problems resulting from central nervous depression, urinary retention and ileus. The latter is a temporary condition where the bowels and intestines no longer function properly, but their is no clear physical cause.

Additionally, the Institute noted that "a very small" amount can wind up in breast milk. Pharmacological effects were described as, "Unlikely, due to low systemic absorption after oral ingestion. Adverse effects in an infant have never been recorded." Their advice to mothers is that they can probably continue to use the medication "safely as directed."

The trial against Sarah V. will take place over six scheduled hearing dates, in which expert witnesses will also be heard. The Court will continue with the trial on Tuesday.