New Mother tests Positive for Drugs after Eating PoppySeed Bagel-Baby Taken from Her

[RamboLiberal]

Local case that is big topic here. So far everything is pointing to this woman did not use drugs. The hospital is testing every woman who gives birth there.

A New Castle woman tested positive for drugs after eating a bagel with poppyseeds on it.

As a result, her newborn baby was taken away from her.

Liz Mort gave birth to Isabella back in April. After getting home from the hospital, CYS arrived at her door and took away her baby.

In a test done at Jameson Hospital, Mort tested positive for drugs, but it didn't make sense to her. Her doctor helped her figure out the "everything" bagel she ate hours before giving birth could explain the positive result.

"The short answer is yes – opium comes from the poppy plant, ingesting poppyseeds can cause levels of morphine and codeine in a person's urine," Dr. Neil Capretto with Gateway Rehabilitation said.

http://kdka.com/local/poppyseed.bagel.drugs.2.1957867.html

[Brickbat]

1. Disgusting.

[brooklynite]

Setting aside this foolish reaction...

why was her urine tested? is that standard policy for all expectant mothers?

[Beaverhausen]

3. in the article it says they do this to all mothers who have given birth

[Dorian Gray]

18. Thats what I'm wondering

that's bizarre.

[Beaverhausen]

2. For fuck's sake. They kept the baby for 5 days?

sue their asses!!!

I have seen drug tests where they actually ask if you have eaten anything with poppy seeds in it recently. Seems easy enough.

[Romulox]

4. 1) What right do they have to test this woman for drugs without her consent?

2) Don't the authorities have to actually prove the mother is (allegedly in this case) unfit? The mere presence of opiates in one's bloodstream cannot be a conclusive proof of unfitness to parent.

Oh well. Its ZOMG DRUGS!@!!!1!!1! The U.S. Constitution and common do not apply.

[valerief]

10. She's only a woman anyway. Who cares about women? Not China, not the Arab countries,

and not the U.S.

[AtomicKitten]

5. Seinfeld: Elaine Benes vs. poppyseed muffin.

From the showerhead episode:

Monk's coffee shop, Elaine is at the counter eating a muffin and talking with a waitress.

Elaine: How could I have tested positive twice? Once I could understand, that's a mistake. But twice?

Waitress: Yeah, it's hard to figure.

Elaine: I mean I lost my job, I can't go to Africa. I was gonna meet the bushmen of the Kalahari.

Waitress: Ah, the bushmen?

Elaine: And the bushwomen.

Man (also seated at the counter): Excuse me. I couldn't help overhearing. I notice you're eating a poppy seed muffin.

Elaine: Yeah, I eat these muffins all the time.

Man: Well, you know what opium is made from...

Elaine (as though receiving a revelation): Poppies!

[DCBob]

11. Funny, that is exactly what I was thinking..

lol!

[AtomicKitten]

23. .

:fistbump:

[DCBob]

31. I'm a Seinfeld addict..

I think I have seen every episode about 10 times.

[AtomicKitten]

34. Yep me too. Funny how many times something in life happens

and you instantly think of a Seinfeld episode that covered it.

Right after Seinfeld ended the series, we saw him doing standup at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. I got a photo of him with my son. Our local paper (Santa Cruz Sentinel - I live in SF now) got wind of it through my son's school and they did a segment on it interviewing my son. It's like Jerry Seinfeld was royalty and my son had touched the hem of his garment.

It's too bad hipster doofus Kramer had the unfortunate racist incident (also doing standup) but it was amazing when Jerry came out and took it upon himself to smooth over.

[DCBob]

36. That's cool you got to see Jerry live..

yeah, the Kramer thing really bugged me too... I didnt watch any Seinfeld for about a year after that.

[Raine]

30. Me too!nt

:-)

[City Lights]

32. Ha ha...same here! nt

[Lyric]

6. Wouldn't she have had opiates in her system anyway?

Most women who go through a hospital labor and delivery receive opiate painkillers at some point, either during labor or afterward.

On a side note, THIS is why I am VEHEMENTLY opposed to drug-testing people on welfare. False positives happen MUCH too easily, and people on welfare can't afford the weeks (or months) of losing their benefits while the situation gets straightened out. Certain vitamin supplements that contain hemp oil can cause a false-pos for marijuana. Pseudoephedrine and certain ADHD medications can cause false-positives for meth. Poppy seeds and the anti-diarrheal medication loperamide can show up as a false-positive for opioids.

If you get a false-positive on a drug test for a job, you at least have the option of finding another job. But you can't find another welfare. A false-positive that leads to a cessation of benefits, even temporarily, can be utterly devastating to a poor person.

[drm604]

7. Can kidnapping charges be brought?

Probably not, but damn this is wrong.

I wonder if this has happened to any other women who didn't have the presence of mind to get an immediate retest and who didn't have access to a lawyer? Could there be women out there who've lost custody of a baby due to this?

[valerief]

8. So does she sue the business who sold the bagel to a pregnant woman? nt

[Wednesdays]

33. No, she should turn them in...to the DEA.

They're pushers, after all.

[Occulus]

35. No. She sues the state for $$ and an end to the policy of drug testing women who give birth.

I'm assuming that policy is state law, probably directed toward mothers who are on public assistance.

The $$ should be enough to send the child to college, plus all expenses of raising the child from an infant to the age of 18, and the injunction against the policy should apply for that same time period, so no women can ever have this happen to them until the real victim of this incident- her child- is of voting age.

I think that's the only way justice can be served in this case.

[napi21]

9. That's awful! Unless things have changed, New Castle is a

pretty Pub area right next to the VERY BLUE Pittsburgh, so that answers the question WHY was she tested.

My son has worked for one of the major airlines for 20 years and I remember when he came home from his pre-employment drug test. He told us "I can never eat poppyseed rolls, buns, cookies again! They do random drug tests and those seeds will give you a false positive." I'm surprised if this is a comon precvtive in NC why this woman never heard about poppyseeds before.

[treestar]

12. wow that really undermines the effectiveness of the tests

!

And you'd think they could at least ask the person if they have eaten poppy seeds in the last 24 hours, too.

[napi21]

15. Maybe because everybody who tested positive would say they DID eat poppy seeds?

In all fairness, it's not much of a sacrifice. I don't think my son at least really cared one way or the other.

[Junkdrawer]

13. Obligatory link to Mythbusters Poppyseed episode...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMqQLgw7Uz4

Myth Confirmed

[speppin]

14. Automatic testing is WRONG..... Maybe the ACLU will get involved.........

...........
"We definitely have concerns over both the hospital's policy of automatically testing all women who come in to give birth as well as the fact they're using really low cut-off amounts," Sara Rose with the ACLU said.

"Generally a skilled medical review officer can tell the difference between street drug use and poppyseed drug use, but sometimes it's a little fuzzy," Capretto added.

Mort got her daughter back five days later after getting an immediate drug test which was negative and going to court.

"I understand that they were doing that they had to do to protect children, but they should have investigated it more," she said. "I have to drive by that place every day when I go to work and I just cry half the time."

The ACLU has not taken any legal action yet, but is looking into the possibility.

[HuckleB]

16. Even if the positive was from drugs, how is taking away a newborn is the right thing?

:shrug:

It doesn't sound like they had any other basis for removing the child.

[truedelphi]

17. The Libertarians do have a few good ideas.

Wish we could reform that party to keep the good ideas - like our bodies are sacrosanct and belong only to us not the Corporate State, or The Big Mommy Government, and reject the others held by the LB'ers - like fire fighter subscriptions being necessary.

[sam sarrha]

yea.. good ideas like eliminating Public education, privatizing the highways, privitiz'n etc etc etc

[Warren DeMontague]

22. Way to miss the point.

social or left libertarianism is NOT the same thing.

[truedelphi]

24. That's why I am saying it -

Keep the good ideas, ban the bad. Your list continues my small list.

I admit to being with the LB'ers on eliminating a lot of the Big Government, Rubber Stamp agencies, like the FDA and MSM. They only do as the Corporate Entities ask them to do, most of the time.

[Warren DeMontague]

21. There's "libertarian" as in pot, porn, etc. should be legal for consenting adults

and there's "libertarian" as in, I should never have to pay taxes, ever, for anything, sewers and roads should be privatized.

They're totally different, I firmly place myself in the first camp and think the 2nd one is bugfuck crazy.

[truedelphi]

39. + 1. n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. Hospitals are mandated reporters?????

So they "automatically test" EVERY pg woman?

Even the cops can't test you if you do not give consent.

Man, I hope she sues them bigtime.

Meanwhile, here is the source I trust the most when it comes to drug information:

http://www.erowid.org/plants/poppy/poppy_testing.shtml

and it says..YES poppy seeds can produce positive for opioid use.

[sam sarrha]

20. they need to know if a baby is going to go into withdrawl on them later

[Warren DeMontague]

28. Couldn't they keep the mom and baby for observation, then, and not split them up?

That way, the mom would at least be able to nurse the baby. Now, she may not be able to breastfeed, which will likely have lifelong health implications for that baby.

Oh, yeah, though that would probably require someone to actually PAY for her to stay in the hospital, and we don't have the same sort of money for that-- not like the $$$$ that freely flows from the never-ending drug war spigots.

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. So I take a codeine pill and give birth 6 hours later.

Makes me an addict?

Still sound like they have "guilty till proven innocent" system going on.
Quite obviously the idea of one drug test determining the medical needs of the baby is a faulty point.

[HuckleB]

25. This article notes that Pennsylvania passed a bill allowing such testing three years ago.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/25370016/detail.html

"A Pennsylvania House Bill 2760 that passed three years ago allows hospitals to test a mother's blood to protect newborns. But the ACLU said Jameson hospital went too far and failed to consider what Mort might have eaten."

I'm not sure how to find out if/what other states have similar laws, but it seem like this is something Democrats should be watching and fighting.

Note: The article also states that CYS went to court without the parents present to get the order to remove the child. Thus, the only evidence they had to remove the child was this single test.

:grr:

[Heywood J]

37. Nothing like what reeks of an ex-parte hearing to get the baby's life started.

Note: The article also states that CYS went to court without the parents present to get the order to remove the child.

When it's scheduled so that the other party cannot attend and defend themselves, they know they're in the wrong and working with flimsy evidence. In addition to any other complaints she files, she needs to go file one with the bar as well.

[HuckleB]

38. Absolutely. -eom-

[Warren DeMontague]

26. Great. Way to fuck up the immediate post partum bonding and nursing period.

This country is fucking idiotic when it comes to not just hysteria over "DRUGGGGZZZZZ!!!!!!!!" but completely clueless about the need for moms and babies to be together right away.

[HuckleB]

27. +1

[hyphenate]

40. Everyone remember the poppy field in Wizard of Oz?

We can't forget Dorothy, Toto and the rest of them on their way to the Emerald Cty getting sleepy and presumably spaced out in the field.

Obviously, poppies were well known for their effects on people even that long ago in mass media. (I know it goes back even WAY further, but Wizard of Oz is meant to be for children!)

[B Calm]

41. I eat poppy-seed salad dressing all the time. The last time I was randomly

selected for a drug test I mentioned this to the screen-er. The screen-er said you have nothing to worry about. He said it would be so meniscal it would not show up in the drug test. Apparently he was right, I never got a call to the office.