OT Drug Testing Pregnant Women Produces False Positives (And Kills Bab

July 4, 2008

Sorry I couldn't clean this up better , but it still has merit . They do not only test pregnant ones they also test people like some of us on here with ETG whos children are older Drug Testing Pregnant Women Produces False Positives (And Kills Babies) | Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)

StoptheDrugWar.org

raising awareness of the consequences of prohibition -- news and activism supporting sensible reform

Home Chronicle Speakeasy Alerts Donate About Us

Subscribe/Register Login What's this?

Latest News Action Alerts Programs/Campaigns Resources Contact Us Site Map

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

join the movement...

Stop the Drug War (DRCNet) is an international organization working for an end to drug prohibition worldwide and for interim policy reform in US drug laws and criminal justice system. Read more about DRCNet.

Enough is Enough: Stop the Deadly SWAT Raids

more action alerts

Make a DonationWant to stop the drug war? One way to help is to make a generous donation -- member support makes up a critical portion of our budget, and we can't do it without you!

free with donation of $32 or overmore info about book

Make a Donation

Higher Education Act Reform Campaign

DRCNet on MySpace

Out from the Shadows:Ending Drug Prohibitionin the 21st Century

Watch the Law EnforcementAgainst Prohibition Video

some organizations DRCNet played a role in starting:

Watch BUSTED: The Citizen'sGuide to Surviving Police Encounters

DRCNet in Afghanistan

Drug Testing Pregnant Women Produces False Positives (And Kills Babies)

Printer Friendly Version Email this Article Posted in Chronicle Blog by on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 10:56pm

A major and underappreciated problem with drug testing is that the stupid tests donâ€™t even work. They say people took drugs when they didnâ€™t. The problem is particularly apparent in the case of pregnant women who are frequently targeted for drug screening, but whose changing body chemistry throws off the results:

Hospitals' initial urine- screening drug tests on pregnant women can produce a high rate of false positives - particularly for methamphetamine and opiates - because they are technically complex and interpretation of the results can be difficult, some experts say.

Tests for methamphetamine are wrong an average of 26 percent - and possibly up to 70 percent - of the time, according to studies by the University of Kansas Medical Center, U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. [DailyNews]

Of course, drug policy and science cannot coexist harmoniously, thus babies are taken from mothers who test positive, even though the tests are constantly wrong. In one tragic case, a child died in foster care after being wrongly separated from her mother:

Growing up in Los Angeles County's foster care system, Espinoza is sure of one thing: A baby needs its mother.

Espinoza, who was separated from her own mother when she was young because of neglect, also had her newborn baby taken by the foster-care system when she tested positive for marijuana and cocaine at the hospital after giving birth.

Just three months later, the baby, Gerardo, died when his foster mother strapped him into a car seat, took him to a neighbor's home and left him in the car seat on a bed, according to a lawsuit filed against the county's Department of Children and Family Services seeking unspecified damages. [DailyNews]

I hope I'm not being generous, but I really think almost anyone would agree that this is just sickening and horrible. The press coverage will hopefully initiate progress towards cleaning up the procedures that contributed to this travesty. I will hold out hope that common sense can prevail over the mindlessness of taking children from their parents based on evidence that is proven to be wrong up to 70% of the time, particularly now that the alternatives we have available for those children have been demonstrated to be fatally inadequate.

But there is also a larger lesson here that must not escape our attention. Think for a moment about how many women have already been falsely accused under this wildly unjust policy. Think about the social consequences of tearing families apart based on deeply flawed science in a criminal justice system that strikes without hesitation but drags its heels when it comes to righting such ubiquitous wrongs. Ask yourself, also, how such a policy was ever implemented in the first place, doomed as it was to destroy innocent families so capriciously.

Once again, we are faced with a monumental travesty, grand in scope, yet remarkably simple in origin; we should protect unborn children from drug-using mothers. We've wreaked unimaginable and undue suffering upon innocent parents and children in pursuit of the noblest of ideals. That, unfortunately, is the story of most aspects of our drug policy when they receive appropriate scrutiny. The totality of such repeated travesties forms a terrifying mosaic, the true, yet largely untold story of how our drug policies destroy innocent lives each and every day in ways we might never expect.

It is precisely because the idea to protect babies from drugs is such a no-brainer that a plan was drafted with no brains.

Bookmark/Search this post with: digg | reddit

Drug War Issues Pregnancy - Drug Testing - Women's Issues

Recent blog posts by smorgan email this page

Even if the tests were 100% accurate,Comment posted by rita on Thu, 07/03/2008 - 1:21am

the pretense of protecting babies from drugs doesn't justify the reckless destruction of families.

And I do mean "pretense." Like everything else about prohibition, taking babies from "drug-using" mothers was NEVER about protecting anybody; it's merely one more way to penalize people who use illegal drugs. The babies are merely one-use tools.

Use them once and throw them away.

reply | email this page

I know about this travestyComment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/03/2008 - 11:08am

I know about this travesty personally as I was blindly drug tested when giving birth to my son. I tested positive for marijuana. I was required to meet with a social worker and then child protective services before being allowed to take my baby home from the hospital. The meeting with the social worker was ridiculous. All that she asked were questions about my (and my husband's) financial situation. I own a small business and my husband is a partner in a large regional law firm, so the questions seemed a little inapplicable. I ultimately met with child protective services who was required by law to refer me to an alcohol and drugs assessment center where I was mandated to take a month's worth of "drug education" classes. Since I have money (the classes cost $100), a car and a husband, it really wasn't too much of a hardship. The women who were without a car, money and a husband or someone who could take care of their baby while they attended these classes were much more inconvenienced than myself. I was shocked that every week the classes consisted almost entirely of women. On the last class, I summoned up the nerve to ask the other women why they were there. Overwhelmingly the class consisted of women like myself who tested positive for marijunana when giving birth. I don't expect anyone to sympathize with me for using marijuana while pregnant, a decision that I researched and knowingly made and don't regret, rather for the civil rights violation. Here we have another clear example of ill conceived drug war strategies by the government that disproportionately affect the poor. If I were to get pregnant again, I realize my options are abortion or home birth. I will never go to a hospital again EVER.

reply | email this page

Previous CommenterComment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/03/2008 - 7:05pm

Anonymous,

You sound like someone who is affluent. I wonder how they knew to test you. Do they target all pregnant women? I also wonder if the drugs that they give to ease pain during childbirth may have an effect on those drug tests. It alarms me that these folks will violate a woman's civil rights without just cause.

reply | email this page

I know About This Injustice AlsoComment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/03/2008 - 9:29pm

My daughter was given a morphine IV in labor for nineteen hour's because the baby was placenta-previa, which we were never told. She was also a month early, due to my daughter being anemic, hyperthyroid and had hyperemesis gravidarum, which we were never told and she was never treated for any of these complication's. When her daughter was born, she was accused of doing drug's the day she went into labor. Toxicology test's done on the baby showed morphine. The morphine given to my daughter in labor.The baby was taken and put in fostercare and my daughter's right's terminated. We are still fighting for the return of my granddaughter. The court's won't listen.My daughter can't have any more children. Her pituitary gland was damaged while she was pregnant due to being anemic. There was no blood going to the pituitary gland. She now has Sheehan syndrome and a mass on her brain, all due to bad medical care. I will fight for the return of my granddaughter if it takes the rest of my life. Drug testing pregnant women does give false positive's and so does illnesses. This injustice against women need's to be stopped.

reply | email this page

An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services...Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 1:59am

An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, care, and the Child Protection "INDUSTRY"

Child Protective Services Does not protect children...It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even killed at the hands of CPS.

every parent should read the free handbook fromconnecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the USThese numbers come from The National Center onChild Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

Perpetrators of Maltreatment

Physical Abuse CPS/ care 160, biological Parents 59Sexual Abuse CPS/ care 112, biological Parents 13Neglect CPS/ care 410, biological Parents 241Medical Neglect CPS/ care 14 biological Parents 12Fatalities CPS/ care 6.4, biological Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per 100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a bunch of social workers.

THIS IS AMERICA'S HIDDEN HOLOCAUST

Currently Child Protective Services violates more constitutionally guaranteed liberties & civil rights on a daily basis then all other agencies combined, Including the National Security agency/Central intelligence agency wiretaping programsâ€¦

THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICESBY: Schaefer Senator, 50th District of Georgia

http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/articles.php?filter=6

The Business of Child Stealing in Florida

http://www.nolanchart.com/article4132.html

This is Child Protection?By A. Hession, J.D.

http://www.jbs.org/node/4632

Mercenary Motherhood: "Memoirs of a Babystealer."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-callahan16oct16,0,5019944.stor...

FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILURE:. A Brief Analysis of the Casey Family Programs. Northwest Care Alumni Study. By Wexler

http://www.nccpr.org/reports/cfpanalysis.doc

http://www.nccpr.org/index_files/page0003.html

HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN

http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html

http://www.nccpr.org/reports/asfa.pdf

Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the MadnessDSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up familiesBy Nev Massachusetts News

http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/2000/5_May/mayds4.htm

A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster care:

30% of the nationâ€™s homeless are former foster children.27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated33% were receiving public assistance37% had not finished high school2% receive a college degree50% were unemployed

Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems, including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and impaired social relationships. Some experts estimate that about 30% of the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment than the general population.*Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support

80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system.

The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade Horn of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should just be blown up.

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991

Four rigorous studies have found that at least 30 percent of Americaâ€™s foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent housing.

These studies found thousands of children already in foster care who would have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in the first place.

Front-page story in USA Today.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-02-foster-study_N.htm?csp=34...

Read the studies online.

Casey "alumni" study: "Improving Family Care: Findings from the Northwest Care Alumni Study,"

www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/NorthwestAlumniStudy.htm

MIT study: "Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects of Care,"

www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fosterlt_march07_aer.pdf

http://www.cftl.org/documents/2008/FCfullreport.pdf

Texas comptroller's "Forgotten Children" reports:

http://www.window.state.tx.us/news/60623statement.html

www.window.state.tx.us/forgottenchildren

The bottom line? - Child Protective Services and the Care system for the most part turns out young adults that are nothing more than Walking Wreckage...

CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS....

CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...

BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...

reply | email this page

Post new comment

Subject:

Comment: *

Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <i> <blockquote> <p> <address> <pre> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <br> Lines and paragraphs break automatically. You may post code using <code>...</code> (generic) or <?php ... ?> (highlighted PHP) tags. Web and e-mail addresses are automatically converted into links.More information about formatting options Captcha Validation: * Please type in the letters/numbers that are shown in the image above.

Sign In

OT Drug Testing Pregnant Women Produces False Positives (And Kills Bab

Recommended Posts

Guest guest

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Join the conversation

Activity