HINGHAM, Mass. — A South Shore mother in her 50s is warning people of all ages to be on alert for spiked drinks after she believes her friend was drugged during a sit-down dinner.
It happened two weeks ago at a restaurant in downtown Hingham.
Sara Mason Ader told Boston 25 News that she doesn’t want to name the restaurant because she’s not sure if they’re to blame in any way.
She was seated there with a group of friends, who are all in their 50s, and describes being very concerned for one of them before they made it to the main course.
“First round of drinks was fine. We ordered some appetizers. At that point, this one friend ordered a second drink, and no one else did,” explained Mason Ader. “This was not a small thing. She was completely incapacitated.”
She said the friend who drank a second pomegranate martini quickly became violently ill and disoriented.
It wasn’t long before the woman, who was the wife of a doctor, started slipping in and out of consciousness.
“I was thinking, oh that drink hit her hard. I didn’t think much of it until two hours later. I got a phone call from the emergency room,” she recalled. “The doctor said she seemed like she was drugged.”
Mason Ader called Hingham Police to file a report on her friend’s behalf after learning that tests showed a low blood alcohol level and revealed no medical episodes that would explain what happened.
She said she was beside herself to learn that the South Shore Hospital Emergency Room wouldn’t test for drugs commonly used in drink-spiking cases – like GHB and Rohypnol.
It’s an issue that Boston 25 News has been reporting on since last year.
Many local hospitals say they don’t have the resources or staffing readily available to regularly run these expensive tests.
There are also some challenges in running tests when doctors aren’t exactly sure what drug they’re looking for.
“Despite what we’re sure happened… because the hospital never did the test, they can’t complete the police report,” she said. “The police need tools in their arsenal to be able to prosecute.”
State Senator Paul Feeney, a Democrat with the Bristol and Norfolk District of Massachusetts, just filed a bill last month that would require hospitals to test for date rape drugs if a victim believes they’ve been drugged.
“We saw your report here on Boston 25. We’ve seen social media accounts from all over the Commonwealth of many survivors who say it shouldn’t be this hard to get tested,” said Sen. Feeney.
Feeney’s bill would create a “Date Rape Drug Response and Intervention Task Force” to study, report and recommend regulations about hospital care for victims of date rape drugs.
“It’s not age specific and now we hear the stories of women in their 50s and now moms having dinner at a restaurant. We’ve also heard this is happening to many men as well,” said Sen. Feeney.
South Shore Republican State Senator Patrick O’Connor has already co-signed the bill that was filed by Senator Feeney.
“Without these tests, our law enforcement officers can’t even open an investigation. We need to create a standard testing practice so that we can hold people accountable for spiking drinks – regardless of whether or not a sexual assault occurs,” said a statement from Senator O’Connor (R-Weymouth).
Hingham Police told Boston 25 News that the department is still investigating Mason Ader’s claims despite the lack of any positive test results.
“When you have random incidents happening at the 5 o’clock hour in the upscale restaurants in the suburbs, it’s got to be a really big problem,” she added. “I’m over 50. I don’t go clubbing anymore. I sort of thought it didn’t apply to me.”
Original Source: https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/hingham-mother-believes-friends-drink-spiked-during-sit-down-dinner/MPWPMDRGI5F3HMQD5KVPDVA5PI/