Now this is a lawsuit I can totally get behind!

[Luv2Scrap]

Good for her - I hope her suit accomplishes something. Our oldest son was born in NYC, which also had a manatory drug test for newborns. I had been given a shot of morphine for pain in early labor, and the night nurse forgot to note it on my chart. The next day, my son tested positive for opiates. Social services was brought in, and my husband and I weren't allowed to take our baby from the nursery until they got hold of the nurse and verified my story. It was nervewracking. Luckily for us, it only lasted several hours, but there is still a social services report out there with our name on it, which shouldn't exist at all.

It sucks that this report ever existed, but are you sure it is still out there? I work for Social Services and in the state of MN, we are required to destroy them after four years if there was no finding of maltreatment. It will vary by state, but I can't imagine that they would still have that after nine years (looks like that's how old your oldest is...?)

It honestly means nothing either way, but it might make you feel better if you knew it was gone for sure. You have the right to call the Social Services department and inquire about how long they keep the records, and if yours is still on file.

 

[NikitaZee]

It sucks that this report ever existed, but are you sure it is still out there? I work for Social Services and in the state of MN, we are required to destroy them after four years if there was no finding of maltreatment. It will vary by state, but I can't imagine that they would still have that after nine years (looks like that's how old your oldest is...?)

It honestly means nothing either way, but it might make you feel better if you knew it was gone for sure. You have the right to call the Social Services department and inquire about how long they keep the records, and if yours is still on file.

Thanks, I will check into that. About three years ago, I requested my medical records from the hospital, and the social services report was included. I just figured the agency still had a copy as well.

 

[PatsMom]

I was drug tested during pregnancy because my job required it, not the hospital! i worked at a nuclear power plant and we were subject to random screening.

One thing that would disturb me is if the infants are being removed from their mother's on the basis of a single screening without backup testing. Even for us, if our initial screen (urine) turned up positive, we were entitled to a re-test. If that was still positive, we could request testing by another means. They had to get pretty sophisticated before they could fire you from a job. I would hope that if pregnant women are screened, the same back up plan would apply.

I also believe that a positive drug test is not necessarily a reason to remove a baby. I think it is a gross invasion of privacy.