My daughter was born with some serious issues landing her in the NICU for nearly a week two or three days after she was born. Soon after, I was pulled into a small room with a social worker, several healthcare providers (nurses and doctors) and a police officer. I was peppered with questions about what drugs my then-wife had been taking during her pregnancy. I was honestly aghast; this was a woman who spent both pregnancies puking into garbage bags she carried with her everywhere because she refused to take the anti-nausea medication she was prescribed to keep things down and other than the epidural, she refused to take even OTC painkillers or drinking caffeine of any sort (decaf or not) during her pregnancy for fear of repercussions to the babies down the line. This was on top of her STRONG aversion to even cannabis and only occasional wine drinking in what most would consider only a slight step above teetotaling.
While I can completely and utterly understand the medical profession's careful monitoring of a situation, particularly when it comes to negative birthing outcomes in the US, the first response should not be the vilification of parents until they are 1099% sure they have evidence that supports such action.
But, then again, when we had our first kiddo and she received an incorrectly inserted epidural there wasn't even a single apology from anyone, let alone the anesthesiologist who let the epidural leak into her skin, eventually puffing up the skin to a noticeable bubble, rather than where it was supposed to be, leaving her in excruciating pain to the point where I had to scream at the nurse's station for 45 straight minutes until someone would listen instead of just telling me she was fine and we were overreacting. Or the doctor who was stitching her up afterward, lacking any and all bedside manner, by saying he should have taken a before and after photo of her vagina, in front of me and my wife, because he had done such a great job.
When it came to our stay in the NICU: we were asleep in a room on another floor, our first in 40+ hours, they performed surgery on our daughter w/o asking our permission or informing us first because they attempted to call the room we were in but we didn't answer--only later to find out that the room's phone had been removed and wasn't there. No one thought to come to the room or even call the nurses' station literally next to the room to have them ask/inform us of the surgery first.
But, sure, go ahead and add on immense stress in one of the most stressful situations of our lives through false accusations while protecting your doctors to the nth degree.
Federal officials have known for decades that urine screens are not reliable. Poppy seeds—which come from the same plant used to make heroin—are so notorious for causing positives for opiates that last year the Department of Defense directed service members to stop eating them.
Absolute meme country. Why do we institutionalize such stupidity?
The article seems to focus on the unreliability of drug testing, which is a great topic, but IMHO, the real issue here is mothers being drug-tested, seemingly without their consent or knowledge. Furthermore, I feel like focusing on the reliability of drug testing (again, a great topic) implies the practice of drug testing mothers is acceptable. It's not. We all wanna protect babies, and punish bad parents, but why does this seem to always fall on mothers/women? Yes, I know there's plenty of laws that could apply to fathers, but I've never heard of a dude getting drug-tested without his consent as a condition of fatherhood.
> She wondered aloud what neighbors would say if they saw her daughter playing in the mud, if someone might accuse her of being a bad parent.
I can't really get inside the head of the assholes who judge kids playing in the mud. It's real.
> The day after Smith delivered her son, a doctor told her that she and her baby had tested positive for meth and that the hospital had notified child protective services... Smith’s husband, Michael, asked the doctor to review his wife’s medical records to confirm her prescription, according to the doctor’s notes.
Is there a reckoning coming for OB/GYN training in America?
There was a talk show host that use to talk about this about 15 years ago. I tried but I cannot seem to find any clips of him on youtube.
The drug testing nonsense in the US is the weirdest thing. Here it seems that it even supplant the actual thing you want to achieve - identifying children with development damage from the mothers drug abuse. If the child is perfectly healthy it shouldn't matter what any drug test states. It's like the testing is more important than the outcome.
My son was embarrassed that he wet himself during class one day (he's way too old for this, we've had him medically evaluated and come out with no medical issues, etc... he just will get engrossed in screens and relieve himself because he doesn't want to leave to the bathroom).
Anyway the substitute teacher that day believed his sob story about how angry his mother would get when she finds out he's soiled himself, and this ends up in a referral to child protective services. A case agent is assigned, comes to visit the house while I'm out of town (we had no idea until she showed up at the door). Thankfully, no action was taken. But now we have this "black mark" on our record as parents for five years.
I get why these agencies exist, and there are real problems out there. But to be caught up in these bureaucratic regimes is a total nightmare, as you're presumed to be a total douchebag until proven otherwise. It's terrifying.
Sue the hospital is all I can say. Also sue the social worker personally, and their employer too. Document and record everything.
Be careful about making any statements that could be misconstrued as evidence against you, but feel free to yell at the staff (never at the police) to show your immediate disgust.
Why is the US government like this?
Why the fuck are they drug testing?
Fuck this shit. Hospitals aren’t police.
Technically, heroin should be legal just like marijuana is legal. It was used for thousands of years as a minor addiction and without harm, providing much needed relief to people. (I'm not saying it's suitable for prenatal use.) The pharma industry will never allow it to happen, preferring to sell their narcotics instead.
Seinfeld, season 6 episode 17:
Elaine takes a urine test in order to go on a work trip to Kenya with her boss, J. Peterman. She tests positive for opium. Elaine insists she has never taken drugs, but when a frantic Kramer shows up at her office begging her to let him use her normal-pressure shower, Peterman mistakes him for a drug addict and fires Elaine. Elaine realizes that the test is picking up the poppy seeds in her favorite muffins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shower_Head