Neonatal abstinence syndrome and criminal liability

Öz

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome NAS is defined as the clinical picture of newborn intrauterinely exposed to drugs. which may create physical dependence as a result of drug intake of the mother during pregnancy. NAS is considered an important and growing health problem in the world. In the light of the studies carried out in some of the developed countries, the incidence of NAS has been found to be between 3 and 6 per 1000 births. No case series found in the Turkish literature about the incidence of NAS, only several case reports on NAS were found. It is stated that, if early diagnosis and treatment is administered, the mortality rate in NAS cases can be reduced to below 5%. Furthermore, surviving NAS cases may develop various health problems later in life. In this study, the criminal liability in NAS cases was discussed: 1 mother’s criminal responsibility for illegal substance use, 2 criminal liability of a drug addict mother with respect to the abortions that may occur in the fetus who is not yet to be born and legally capable, 3 criminal liability of mother in the face of death of her child due to NAS or any malformation caused by NAS, and 4 criminal liability about drug abuse of child in the later years of his life if the child has not been medically treated in early years following his/her birth. In conclusion, it is inevitable that, NAS and correspondingly criminal liability of the mother would be a subject for judicial authorities and also would be an important challenge for forensic medicine specialists hereafter. In this study all evaluations established on the legislation in force, in addition attention drawn on the need for special legislative regulations.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Gebelikte madde kötüye kullanımı
• yenidoğan yoksunluk sendromu
• cezai sorumluluk
• Türk Ceza Kanunu
• çocuk istismarı

Yenidoğan yoksunluk sendromu ve cezai sorumluluk

Öz

Annenin hamilelik sırasında fiziksel bağımlılık oluşturabilecek maddeleri kullanması sonucu, bu maddelere intrauterin olarak maruz kalmış olan fetüste, yenidoğan döneminde ortaya çıkan klinik tablo Yenidoğan Yoksunluk Sendromu YYS olarak tanımlanmaktadır. YYS önemli ve büyüyen bir halk sağlığı problemi olup, bazı gelişmiş ülkelerde yapılan çalışmalarda yıllık YYS insidansı 1000 doğumda 3-6 olarak bildirilmiştir. Türkiye’deki YYS insidansı hakkında herhangi bir çalışmaya veya vaka serisine rastlanmamış, ancak YYS konusunda birkaç olgu sunumunun yapıldığı görülmüştür. Erken tanı ve tedavi ile YYS’nda mortalite oranının %5’in altına inebildiği belirtilmekle birlikte sağ kalan YYS vakalarında hayatlarının ilerleyen döneminde çeşitli sağlık problemleri yaşadıkları gösterilmiştir. Bu çalışmada YYS’de cezai sorumluluk; annenin yasadışı madde kullanımı karşısında cezai sorumluluğu; henüz doğmamış ve hukuken kişi vasfına ulaşmamış fetüste ortaya çıkabilecek düşükler karşısında madde kullanan annenin cezai sorumluluğu; canlı doğmuş ve YYS gelişmiş veya YYS’na bağlı ölmüş çocukta annenin cezai sorumluluğu; doğmuş ve YYS gelişmiş çocukta, tedavi edilmemesi durumunda ileriki yıllarda cezai sorumluluk doğuracak olan uyuşturucu kullanımı durumunda çocuğun cezai sorumluluğu bağlamında tartışılmıştır. Sonuç olarak, YYS’nin ve buna bağlı olarak annenin yasal sorumluluğunun yargı makamlarının önüne gelmesi ve yakın gelecekte adli tıp için önemli bir konu oluşturması kaçınılmaz görülmektedir. Bu çalışmada mevcut yasal duruma göre bir değerlendirmede bulunulmakla birlikte, bu konuda bir an önce yapılması gerekli özel yasal düzenlemelere olan ihtiyaca dikkat çekilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Gebelikte madde kötüye kullanımı
• yenidoğan yoksunluk sendromu
• cezai sorumluluk
• Türk Ceza Kanunu
• çocuk istismarı

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