Lab Tech Bites Patient

by Kristina Chew, PhD on October 2nd, 2007

The patient is a 3 year-old boy with autism. From today’s Indy Star:

The Marion County prosecutor filed a battery charge today against a laboratory technician accused of biting a 3-year-old boy on his shoulder while blood was being drawn from his arm.

Anne McGlorthon, 53, faces one count of battery, a Class D felony with a maximum penalty of three years in prison. McGlorthon was fired last week after the boy’s parents accused her of biting him, a St. Vincent Hospital spokesman said.

The boy’s mother, Faith Buntin, had taken him to St. Vincent for blood work. McGlorthon told police the boy had bitten her first while she was trying to restrain him so another worker could draw blood from his arm, said Matthew Symons, Prosecutor Carl Brizzi’s spokesman.

……..

“No reason exists for a health care worker to bite a 3-year-old with autism,” Brizzi said in a statement.

No reason exists for anyone to bite any 3-year-old.

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Leila
Oct 2, 2007 at 5:44 pm

This has to be one of the most bizarre stories I’ve read in a long time!

Geez, if someone did that to my toddler - especially considering she was a health worker - I think I’d probably react immediately slapping the woman in the face or something. Not the best thing to do, but I’d surely go out of my mind in that situation.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Oct 2, 2007 at 7:56 pm

Absurd was my first thought on seeing the headline, and then, awful. I think I would be white with rage.
chaoticidealism
Oct 2, 2007 at 8:17 pm

Weird!!

I can see letting the other kid bite your kid back, but an adult biting a child? That doesn’t make much sense, especially since she was biting him because he bit her because she was trying to draw blood.

Think about it. Here we have an autistic three year old. Most three year olds don’t understand we’re trying to help them when we draw blood; but this one’s autistic, making communication even harder. And she’s surprised when he bites her? The kid thinks he’s being stabbed–it’s a normal reaction! Why’d she bite him back, anyway? Why didn’t she just get somebody to help her hold him still?

And it’s even worse that she’s a health care professional. She ought to know how dirty the human mouth is–if that kid gets an infection, she’ll be the one responsible.
long day's journey into acceptance
Oct 2, 2007 at 9:55 pm

An SLP did this to a family member of mine.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Oct 2, 2007 at 10:09 pm

Out of the blue?
long day's journey into acceptance
Oct 2, 2007 at 11:18 pm

Well, the wee lad gave the zaftig, ultra-feminine therapist some kind of ‘love bite’ as they hugged. Until this time, the child had never bitten, and I hesitate to really call it a “bite”. Let’s just say the schoolboy crush was over forevermore … and we did leave soon thereafter. The bite that the therapist returned was done with force and with yelling. I was told it was the proper way to “teach” the child and a citation was rattled off. I’ve never known (several years in the passing) the lad to ever gently bite anyone again.
KimJ
Oct 3, 2007 at 12:07 am

I thought St. Vincent was in Carmel, in Hamilton County. That’s where we lived and where Pop had his blood work done. Husband said nothing weird happened, aside from having to hold Pop down. He was just under 3 at the time.
Lolasmom
Oct 3, 2007 at 12:35 pm

I don’t know why I am shocked by this story. Considering how many crazy, horrible things people do in this world, nothing should surprise me anymore. There are scores of people - who are otherwise sensitive and somewhat intelligent - who think that the way to teach a baby not to bite is by biting them back. (Last time I checked, we were PEOPLE, not puppies.)

I don’t know about you all, but I would never let another person restrain my child. When Lola had her blood drawn (at age 2 3/4), I sat her on my lap and held her still. If they have to suffer the indignity of being held down against their will, I want it to be by someone they love whom they know won’t let anything really bad happen to them. A stranger, though? How scary must that be.
Laura
Oct 3, 2007 at 6:31 pm

I can’t believe this, either!! I was forwarded this story by a friend of mine who is a phlebotomist - she said it’s been making the rounds at work. she said she has NEVER seen a toddler being drawn who wasn’t being restrained by his own parents. Sad. Weird, also, that the story she sent me didn’t mention that the boy was autistic. Once I realized THAT, it just made the story that much worse. Poor little boy, probably nonverbal, not having a clue what they were doing to him. Ugh!