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The parents of a baby boy drugged by a Lely day-care owner now serving time in jail for feeding children a sleep-inducing, pink milk “drug cocktail” is suing the woman, alleging she caused permanent, disabling injuries.

The attorney for former Marco Island residents Brandon and Katie Lang said he’s considering amending their lawsuit to include a claim against the maker of Tylenol, which pulled children’s formulas from the shelves in 2005 before FDA hearings on its dangers.

That was a few months after the crimes involving Patricia Marino of 244 Baltusrol Drive, who operated the state-licensed “family day-care home” that the Langs chose for 2-month-old Gavin

The state Department of Children & Families (DCF) had warned Marino four times about medicating children without permission before it pulled Marino’s license after a fifth complaint.

The Langs, who have since moved to Knoxville, Tenn., removed Gavin from Marino’s care after about six months when she couldn’t allay their repeated concerns about pink spit-up on his clothing and their child’s lethargic state.

He was rushed to Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers in 2005, barely breathing, and nearly died, according to testimony during Marino’s sentencing in September. He’s now 3.

Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt sentenced Marino to two simultaneous one-year jail terms and four years’ probation after she pleaded to child abuse and tampering with evidence as part of a plea agreement that dropped a second child abuse charge. She was given credit for the three days she served in jail after her June 2006 arrest. Jail officials say she will be released July 10.

It was a local doctor, Dr. Dulce Dudley of Naples, who sent milk provided by one mother to a lab for testing. It tested positive for Tylenol, Benadryl and Nyquil.

Tylenol overdosing can cause possible liver damage, while Benadryl, an antihistimine, is a powerful sleep aid, and Nyquil contains medication and alcohol.

Marino doesn’t have an attorney, but the Langs’ attorney, Jeffrey B. Mallory of Associates & Bruce L. Scheiner of Fort Myers, said he intends to collect damages from the former day-care center’s insurer. He declined further comment, saying the lawsuit is in the early stages.

It accuses Marino of negligence for providing Tylenol, Benedryl and Nyquil to Gavin numerous times without permission. As a caregiver, the lawsuit says, Marino had a duty to protect him from dangers, yet she disregarded safety instructions and warning labels by administering unsafe dosages of over-the-counter medications to their son.

She failed to warn them about providing him with medications, the lawsuit says, alleging she caused him injury, pain and suffering, permanent disability, disfigurement, and the family had to pay hospital expenses and other costs. The Langs also are seeking damages for their son’s possible future loss of earnings and ability to earn money.

In a statement to the court, the Langs told the judge last fall their suspicions about Gavin being drugged were confirmed when they removed him from Marino’s care.

“There’s no question that you put our son’s life in jeopardy,” they said. “Within a week, Gavin was like a totally different baby. When the investigation shut your operation down, we all breathed a sigh of relief.”

Gavin’s grandmother, Donna Lang, said at sentencing he was beet red, sweating and shaking and said Marino admitted giving him medicine because he was cranky. She testified her other grandchild, Olivia Delgado, while in the emergency room awaiting an exam for her younger sister, Isabella, told her Marino kept medicine in her cupboard and gives it to the children, “then we sleep.”

The state revoked Marino’s home day care license on March 23, 2006, after four instances of providing medication without written authorization beginning in 2003. She’d operated since 1993.

DCF records show Marino had a license to operate a “family day-care home,” which allowed her to care for up to 10 children, if no more than five were preschool age and two were younger than 12 months old. When it revoked her license, DCF wrote that it had given her technical assistance by explaining medication authorization procedures and by providing forms more than once, but Marino “failed to remedy and abate this systematic pattern of violations, which endangers the health and safety of children in her care.”

The criminal case involved a phoned-in complaint by someone who reported that the situation investigated in December 2005 was still occurring.

DCF records show that on Dec. 19, 2005, Marino admitted dispensing medication, including Tylenol, without written permission and DCF cited her for “substance misuse-threatened harm” for putting medication in sippy cups with strawberry milk without parental knowledge or authorization.

Testimony at a hearing last year showed Theresa Fracek, a DCF child protection investigation supervisor, went to Marino’s home with investigator Mercedes Correa on Jan. 4, 2006, and Marino’s son, Joseph, allowed them inside, where they found three children.

When Fracek opened the refrigerator, she saw six sippy cups with pink liquid and asked Marino what was inside. Marino poured one down the sink as Fracek told her to stop. She didn’t, so Fracek tried to gather all the cups. Marino grabbed her arm, wresting away another cup, which she dumped in the sink.

Meanwhile, Correa was phoning Collier County deputies to come collect the evidence. The DCF investigators gathered the cups, including the dumped ones, and went outside to await deputies.

At least one lawsuit has been filed since Tylenol preemptively pulled its children’s formulas from the shelves before FDA hearings. News reports show an Illinois mother sued McNeil-PPC and Walgreen in November after the death of her 4-month-old son.