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Midwife won't tell source of drugs

A lay midwife convicted of illegally giving a patient drugs to slow bleeding after a birth said she will go to jail on Wednesday rather than disclose the source of the drugs.

Frieda Miller "will accept the punishment rather than putting someone else through what she's been through," her lawyer, David Knowlton, said Wednesday.

Ms. Miller, 47, of Berlin Township, pleaded guilty in May to misdemeanor charges of attempted unauthorized practice of medicine and possession of dangerous drugs. Lay midwives are not recognized by the state of Ohio.

Holmes County Common Pleas Judge Thomas D. White sentenced Ms. Miller to 360 days in jail, but he suspended the sentence in favor of three years of probation and ordered her to cooperate with authorities in further investigation of her practice.

But she has refused to disclose where she got the prescription drugs Pitocin and Methergine, which she administered to a woman Dec. 17 to stop bleeding after childbirth. Members of the Ohio Midwives Alliance said Ms. Miller's use of the drugs probably saved the patient's life.

Judge White found Ms. Miller in contempt for not complying with a court order to testify before the grand jury investigating the matter. He said she had until Wednesday afternoon to disclose the name or she would be jailed until Dec. 31, the end of the grand jury's term. If the grand jury's term is extended, Ms. Miller's inprisonment also will be extended, though Judge White said she will not serve more than six months.

"From the start of this case, our primary objective was to find out where the drugs came from," Assistant County Prosecutor Stephen Knowling said. "Somebody is distributing drugs in this county to a person who's not supposed to have them. That's a situation that we cannot ignore."

Mr. Knowlton described Ms. Miller's supplier as "someone who was merely interested in making midwifery safer" and is no longer supplying drugs to anyone.

Source:

http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/10/24/loc_oh-midwifedrugs24.html