A mother of a Digital Harbor High School student in Baltimore, Md. found out her 16-year-old daughter received a birth control implant at school after the teen started complaining about headaches and arm pain.
Nicole Lambert took her to the pediatrician, who discovered that a Nexplanon birth control device was the culprit. It had been improperly inserted by a school nurse three years prior, and needed to be surgically removed.
RELATED STORY
David Ledyard, attorney for the Lambert’s, was contacted by PJ Media, and commented:for comment, who said:
“There’s no transparency in the training or certification of the school health centers,” he said. “Are they looking at the medical history of the students and doing a full workup before implanting these devices? What is the certification process and training of the nurses?”1
Ledyard has been trying to obtain this information from the school for over a month but has been ignored. Lambert has put in a formal request for her daughter’s medical file, but the school has yet to turn it over. Ledyard added:
“It’s important to [the mother] that this is not about birth control. If her daughter had needed it, she would have consented to get it.”1
RELATED STORY
The implant was inserted near the back of Lambert’s daughter’s arm instead of the inside of her upper arm. Her doctor advised immediately taking the implant out to avoid possible complications, including blood clots. Along with the major health issues that the implant could have caused, Lambert was also upset that the implant had been administered by the school without her permission, saying:
“They call me for Tylenol, but they don’t call me about birth control.”1
RELATED STORY
A law in Maryland, that dates back nearly fifty years, makes it possible for minors to consent to invasive procedures without parental consent. Lambert said:
“I actually went to the school. I was furious. I was mad, so I went to the school and the nurse told me, ‘I don’t have to talk to you about absolutely nothing.’ I’m like that is my child, I take care of this child, you can talk to me about my child, and they put me out of the school.”1
