Anne Arundel County prosecutors are waiting for the results of lab tests to determine whether the exposure to opiates of three newborns at Anne Arundel Medical Center merits a criminal investigation.
David Cordle, an investigator with the state's attorney's office, met for an hour yesterday with hospital officials, said Kristin Riggin, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors.
State's Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee said members of his staff offered to help hospital officials with their internal investigation after reading about the incident in weekend newspapers.
"Although it looks pretty strange, I don't have any reason to believe there was anything criminal going on," he said.
Hospital officials announced Friday they had discovered earlier in the week that three infants who had suffered breathing problems had traces of unidentified opiates in their blood. They said they had been interviewing staff members since Tuesday to determine the source of the drugs.
One of the infants was released yesterday, said hospital spokeswoman Carolyn Shenk. The other two were in stable condition in the critical care nursery.
Meanwhile, the Annapolis police department has not decided whether to investigate the cases, said Lt. Stan Malm, head of the criminal investigation section.
Lieutenant Malm said the hospital's internal investigation is complex because it concerns a problem involving several victims as well as the hospital.
Hospital officials have run dozens of tests on the infants, all about a week old, to determine whether someone tried to harm them or whether the hospital's medical supplies, equipment, cleaning or medicine distribution systems could have been the source of the drugs.
Results of the toxicology tests are expected today, Ms. Shenk said. The tests will show what type of drug the newborns were exposed to and the level of opiates in the babies' systems at the time the tests were taken, she said.
The hospital is offering a hot line number for more information about the incident: 267-1510.