Hospitals gave patients meds during childbirth, then reported them for drug use

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/12/11/pregnant-hospital-drug-test-medicine

by anigbrowl • 2 years ago

62 28 2 years ago

gnabgib• 2 years ago

Inexplicably no discussion, but popular yesterday (44 points) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42404691

I submitted it yesterday, saw the current thread on the front page. Almost celebrated my first post making it there, but alas, it wasn’t mine.

joe_the_user2• 2 years ago

And then someone flagged it apparently as a dupe. smh.

anigbrowl2• 2 years ago

This happens a lot and for some reason it always stings.

christophilus2• 2 years ago

Is it normal to give morphine to mothers during childbirth? That seems crazy to me.

ImPostingOnHN• 2 years ago

Most of the time, yes:

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/epidural-anesthesia

ternnoburn2• 2 years ago

Opioids are often given during and after childbirth. Childbirth is incredible, but also hugely painful for some people.

And the different types of labor pain can be treated by different techniques or medications.

Why would it be crazy?

agonmon2• 2 years ago

Because it shows up in the baby's meconium... That doesn't even get into the second order effects such as mothers then having trouble lactating/nursing. And beyond that, we should probably question why, statistically, the mothers that have the most children don't use painkillers during childbirth.

dgfitz• 2 years ago

Are you familiar with epidurals? Generally they give morphine or fentanyl through the epidural.

christophilus2• 2 years ago

I wasn’t aware that epidurals were opioid-based. That explains things.

prasadjoglekar• 2 years ago

Childbirth can be natural or cesarean. The latter is functionally akin to a major abdominal surgery. Pain meds are normal after that.

conk• 2 years ago

Both are akin to major surgery.

ortusdux• 2 years ago

It's recommended to avoid poppy seeds during the last few months of pregnancy to avoid false positives.

joe_the_user2• 2 years ago

So they tested the kid's bowel movements for drugs and reported the parent for drugs they themselves gave. On the surface, it seems like a "right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing" but such things always going to happen when a system is used for both care and enforcement.

And as the article mentions, the outlawing of abortion in some states has accelerated these problems.

aftbit• 2 years ago

Dum dum dum dumb.

Classic "not my problem" case in health care. Clinician 1 gives a typical medication to patient, then their shift ends and they go home. Hours or days later, clinician 2 administers a drug test as part of standard process, then their shift ends and they go home. Clinician 3 then reviews this positive test result and reports it to authorities as part of a mandatory reporting program. Nobody acts as a patient advocate and reviews the full case file. Everyone just does their one transactional piece and forgets the entire history ten seconds later in favor of doing another transactional thing for another patient.

Aloisius• 2 years ago

It sounds like the justice system is what's broken.

morkalork• 2 years ago

It shouldn't even be making it to the justice system in the first place

SuperNinKenDo• 2 years ago

A case study in the banality of evil sadly. Also a perfect example of why care and enforcemrnt should never be mixed, both for its immediate effects and the lasting distrust it will eventually cause.

stuaxo• 2 years ago

So dystopian.

underseacables• 2 years ago

It feels like today, mothers face increasing danger going into hospitals. The medical professionals have so much power and control over you when you're there, and one mistake can kill you or ruin your life. There really needs to be greater patient protections.

Fire-Dragon-DoL• 2 years ago

If you sued for mental damage the state for such a thing, would you be able to win?

It says a child was taken from the mum for 5 months, that's an impossible damage, literally to get back to something similar you need another child + 9 months + all the costs associated to having 2 children (and career progression loss).

anigbrowl2• 2 years ago

I feel like most such suits would crash on the shores of immunity doctrines and balancing tests. It's absolutely life-altering and probably lifelong - I don't see any way that such a child wouldn't develop attachment/trust disorders. But any judges who assign responsibility to transparently will be denounced as 'judicial activists'.

OutOfHere• 2 years ago

The state government has too much power to define what a mother can or can't do. It doesn't deserve such power. Using it correctly or not is a whole other consideration.

Hospitals gave patients meds during childbirth, then reported them for drug use

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