Hospitals nationwide are conducting unreliable drug tests on pregnant women and involving child welfare authorities based on the results, as per a recent investigation from The Marshall Project.
The investigation by The Marshall Project reporter Shoshana Walter reveals that while the exact number of pregnant women subjected to drug testing is unknown, federal data suggests that thousands of babies are reported to authorities for suspected drug exposure during birth.
These drug tests are notoriously unreliable, with urine tests showing false positives up to 50 percent of the time. False positives often occur due to over-the-counter medications, common antidepressants, or prescribed blood pressure medications. In some cases, even consuming poppy seeds has led to false accusations and child welfare interventions.
The consequences of a false positive can be catastrophic for families.
Instances like a California mother losing custody of her children due to a false positive for meth and PCP, or a Pennsylvania woman facing harsh treatment after testing positive for opioids from eating pasta salad, highlight the distressing outcomes of these flawed tests.
Despite the unreliability of these tests, more than half of U.S. states mandate hospitals to report suspected drug use during pregnancy to child welfare agencies without the requirement to verify the accuracy of the results. This lack of confirmation testing leaves innocent mothers vulnerable to unjust accusations.
Ironically, caseworkers investigating mothers for drug use have access to confirmation testing in case of a positive result, unlike the mothers themselves.
The absence of safeguards guaranteeing the right to confirm a positive result can lead to traumatizing experiences for families.
Cases like a woman being falsely accused of cocaine use and prohibited from breastfeeding her newborn, or another woman separated from her child for weeks due to a false positive for opiates from poppy seeds, demonstrate the severe consequences of flawed drug testing.
It is crucial to ensure that families are not torn apart based on unreliable tests, and that a simple verification process is in place to protect innocent parents and children from unnecessary harm.
