Parents cannot force a school nurse to administer medication to a student without allowing the nurse to speak to the child?s doctor, but they can challenge how schools deliver services for students with special needs, the Maryland?s highest court ruled.
The Maryland Court of Appeals recently upheld a 2004 decision in which a Howard administrative law judge said he lacked the authority to force the school system to administer the medication based on federal guidelines that ensure students with disabilities receive appropriate services and education.
The parents of a Rockburn Elementary School student, referred to as A.A. in court records, filed a lawsuit against the Howard County Public School System after school officials decided the student was being overmedicated and refused to administer her medications without speaking with the child?s prescribing psychiatrist Dr. Harold Eist, according to court records.
“The parents would not give the school nurse direct access to the doctor, because parents in the end are the ones who make the decision to administer the medication,” said Kenneth McPherson, the lawyer for A.A.?s family.
The school nurse?s ability to contact the doctor is a medical-ethical issue, not a special education issue, the Court of Appeals ruled.
The school system said administering the medication to A.A. was not a service agreed to in the student?s individual education plan, formed by her parents, doctors and teachers. The school system said A.A. still could take the medication at Rockburn Elementary if her parents administered it, according to court records.
In the Court of Appeals ruling, parents can challenge a school system?s delivery of special needs services, even if the services are not in the student?s education plan.
The school system?s lawyer Jeffrey Krew could not be reached for comment.
