So much of what helps me with our sons case is not just our lawyer, but all of this research the internet has allowed me to do. Three years ago, my husband had a pretty bad drinking problem and started going to a Substance Abuse program along with at least one AA meeting every day. There was one man in particular that helped him out a lot, and who has recently popped into our heads as being the exact person we need to help us with our case in court. He has a lot of experience in this category but also has degrees to back up that experience (along with past experience) and we were thinking he would make the perfect "expert witness" for our case (since there are no real federal guidelines to who is and who is not an expert witness). So I look back at old information to find the number to the my husbands old substance abuse center, called and asked for the counselor, no idea who I was talking about. DAMN! 2.5 years later and this man wasn't working there and they didn't know who I was talking about. Of course now I'm thinking we are screwed and are going to have to pay out the butt for an expert witness (they can be anywhere from 100-2000 an hour), but again reverted back to the internet to see if I can track this guy down. LOW AND BEHOLD! I found him, working the next city over, called the number and left a message. Hopefully, he remembers my husband and I and calls me back! Keep your fingers crossed for me!
As for the rest of the case, now we are planning on subpoenaing (sp?) the "mother's" PCP's medical records for her because it looks like (according to federal regulations) that he is prescribing her an illegal amount of these medications but also changing his story about what these medications are being used for. (Not looking to get anyone fired, but we are looking to get to the bottom of this and finally get what is in Gino's best interests) The court appointed GAL seems to now be on our side (finally) and seems to be seeing the real woman behind the sober facade she has become so good at putting on for everyone but us. The PCP has stopped returning phone calls and sent a "letter" changing why she was prescribed these meds form what he had originally told the GAL, shady right? Ordered on the 22nd was a hair follicle to be done by today, her lawyer said she took one on the 19th-it was only a 5 panel, not the 12 panel we need to see her prescriptions. However, that was not what was ordered, she was ordered to take it between the 22nd and now. If she doesn't do that by the end of today, that is an automatic fail in the courts eyes, if she does, we are still taking her in because most likely she will not take the 12 panel we need. Not to mention we will need to suspend the visits because of all of this new information we are finding out about her prescriptions, but we still will need some hard evidence to get all of these shenanigans to stop (terminating her rights). The case is exasperating to say the least, and I think that some serious upgrades to Probate and Family laws needs to be made, and once this court case is finished I am seriously looking into fighting to "make those upgrades", which is going to take a lot of time and effort, but these laws need to be adjusted. People with continuous substance abuse issues, years of relapse, assault records, Class A Possesion issues, Abuse issues, etc. should NOT be allowed years upon years to slowly destroy a child's life mentally and possibly physically! This is 5 years that Gino has been put through this bull, 5 years being yanked in and out of this nonsense, 5 years of hating visits and seeing this woman, 5 years of her choosing drugs over her child (I understand the idea of substance abuse being a disease, I understand the arguments, but personally I have strong views on the matter, especially when involving a child)...After 1 or 2 years of continuous abuse and relapses, the childs best interests should be seriously thought about, and that parent who cannot get their act straight should have their rights terminated, this frivolous dance back and fourth is not only completely unnecessary but also can be extremely damaging to the child. So HEY MASSACHUSETTS can we do something about the way we handle the Probate and Family cases?! Also, something that should be a no brainer for courts is that yes, maybe an addict is prescribed certain medications, but those people may also very well be abusing those prescriptions, so any test that they are ordered to take should specifically be Quantitative and the ng/mL levels that would be considered abuse of the medications should be well known to both parties! I am still trying to figure out what (depending on dosages) are considered high levels and abusive of xanax and methadone when a person is prescribed these medications and ordered to submit to drug tests! Any one who knows anything, let me know, you could help save a kid here, lord knows it is next to impossible to find this information. Ex: say she takes 10 mg's 2-3 times a day (30 mg's max a day) when she takes a urine her ng/mL level should not be MORE than 350 ng/mL's (this is an example of what I NEED to find out, with documentation of it).
Short post yes, but this is all over my brain, honestly stopping me from being very productive in other areas of life!
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