This showed up this morning in our Maine rag.
BOSTON (AP) - The Department of Social Services commissioner on Thursday defended how his agency handled the case of a 4-year-old girl who died of a prescription drug overdose, saying the child "didn't fall through the cracks."
Rebecca Riley was found dead at her Hull home Dec. 13. Her parents, Michael Riley, 34, and Carolyn Riley, 32, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a charge of first-degree murder.
"The department completed its inquiry ... did not drop that inquiry, but completed that inquiry with assurances from medical experts that the care was appropriate and sufficient," Spence said. "This child didn't fall through the cracks."
Mass. social services agency under fire
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"Our interpretation of their explanation was that there was a reluctance to engage in second-guessing of fellow professionals," Spence told the Globe.
Their refusals underscore the difficulty DSS generally faces trying to find physicians willing to provide an independent medical opinion, Spence said.
The agency had been working to establish a panel of medical specialists following the controversy over Haleigh Poutre, now 12, who was beaten into a coma in 2005 and from whom DSS almost prematurely withdrew life support.
DSS seeking medical experts... Spence defends how agency handled girl, 4
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These bureaucrats sound like they're in kindergarten. "Oh, I know, let's sneak up on the house!"
Something smells rotten here. Why did they investigate "again" in October? What is this "appeared safe" stuff? Why did they come back yet again, and if it was that urgent, why in the heck did they give up when Mrs. Riley "resisted and evaded"?