If a public health official warns parents about a health risk, and the parents say they are going to continue exposing their child to the risk, should the official report the parents to Child Protective Services?
Clark County Commissioner Tom Mielke on Wednesday questioned the “head-butting,” as he called it, between a health official and the parents of a teenager who had elevated levels of lead in his blood from going to an indoor shooting range.
In April, eight children whose families belong to a shooting range registered lead levels in their blood above 10 micrograms per deciliter; anything above 5 micrograms per deciliter is considered elevated, and cases involving levels of 10 and above must be reported to the health department.
The county health department advised parents to not let their children go to the Orchards-area Vancouver Rifle and Pistol Club until the club improved its ventilation and cleaning.
On Wednesday, public health officer Dr. Alan Melnick was giving commissioners, in their capacity as the Board of Health, an update on the lead exposure cases.
A 14-year-old boy had the highest level of lead in his blood, 20 micrograms per deciliter.
Mielke asked Melnick why he reported the teen’s parents to CPS.
“I felt we strong-armed the family by turning them into CPS,” Mielke said.
Melnick said before CPS was called, the health department assigned a nurse case manager to monitor the 14-year-old’s condition.
Parents of the seven other children were sent letters that explained the risk from lead exposure through inhalation and ingestion of lead dust.
The teen’s father told the nurse he was going to let his son continue shooting at the range, and was not going to do follow-up blood tests to determine whether the lead level in his son’s blood was dropping, Melnick said.
Melnick said the teen’s mother also said they were not going to follow the county’s advice.
Melnick said a teen was being poisoned, his parents were saying they were not going to help him and he felt he had to call CPS.
No state law required him to notify CPS, he told Mielke.
Had he been the teen’s private doctor, however, he would have been obligated to report the parents, Melnick said.
Mielke, who was contacted by the parents, said they felt intimidated by the health department and they did not like the government interfering in their lives.
Now the parents are “strapped” by CPS with having to do blood tests for their son, whose lead level has dropped to 10 micrograms per deciliters, Mielke said.
Commissioner Steve Stuart told Melnick he did the right thing.
Stuart said the commissioners need to be sensitive to the idea that people don’t like the government telling them what to do, but Melnick’s job is “to keep people healthy.”
Mielke said he wished communication with the parents had been better.
“I guess we are always going to run into this,” Mielke said.
Long-term exposure to lead can cause in adults hypertension, kidney damage and neurocognitive issues such as memory loss, decreased verbal ability and slower mental processing speed.
Children, whose brains are still developing, are at even higher risk, Melnick said. The lead stays in the body for years. Elevated lead levels can lead to reduced IQ, slow learning, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or behavioral issues.
Stephanie Rice: 360-735-4508 or stephanie.rice@columbian.com.
