Eat a poppy-seed bagel, lose your child..
 

(Nov. 10) -- The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of a Pennsylvania couple whose baby was taken away from them after the mother failed a drug test. The ACLU says the mom is drug free and blames the failed test on a poppy-seed bagel.

"This was devastating on our whole family," Elizabeth Mort, 21, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I held her for a few minutes, and they took her and left. I was devastated. I just cried and cried and cried."

Mort's daughter, Isabella Rodriguez, was born on April 27 at Jameson Hospital's North Campus in Lawrence County. Before the birth, per hospital policy, Mort was required to submit a urine sample for drug testing. She agreed to the test but reportedly was not told the results.

On April 30, the day after Mort was discharged from the hospital, a caseworker with Lawrence County Children and Youth Services obtained an emergency order and removed the baby from Mort's New Castle, Pa., home because she had allegedly tested positive for opiates.

According to the lawsuit, the level of opiates in Mort's system was well below federal workplace drug testing standards and was caused by Mort ingesting a bagel containing poppy seeds before giving birth. The lawsuit also alleges that Mort passed a subsequent drug test and that Children and Youth Services admitted the mistake, but kept her daughter in foster care for five days before finally returning her to her parents.

The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU in Oakland, Pa., seeks policy changes, damages and attorney fees, the Gazette reported.

"I'm hoping that they'll either change their policies so it doesn't happen to another family or they'll investigate it better before they take babies from their homes," Mort told the newspaper.

Officials with Jameson Hospital's North Campus have not yet commented on the case. According to the Gazette, county representatives said they acted appropriately.


http://www.aolnews.com/nation/articl...Clink2%7C24619

Drug tests are pushing that 4th amendment line everyday.

Elaine on Seinfeld lost her job because of a poppyseed bagel

Goddammit that's terrible if true.


Oh, and this thread will be off to the DC before too long I'm sure.
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Since when are drug tests mandatory for women who are about to give birth? This sounds fishy.

Sounds like a good alternative to abortion.

That was my thought, as well. Tell the hospital to go **** themselves, you're not submitting a drug test.

Ill go ahead and speed this up to DC since the guys in the morning will get it ther, but don't hospitals have to take in women who are giving birth?

That's a good point, what are they going to do if the woman declines the drug test, leave her to crap out the kid in the parking lot?

Probably take the kid for refusing the test. Kinda like losing your license for refusing a breathalyzer.

I heard you need to ingest way more than what's on a poppyseed bagel. Then again, that's to get to workplace standards. They said in the article that child services' threshold is much lower.

I've heard of people getting arrested in some backwards Islamic country cause they had a couple of poppy seeds stuck to them from a lunch they ate at Heathrow or somewhere. News to me the US can drug test new mothers and take their babies away.

**** that.