The Mass General Brigham Hospital system is making a major change and it will impact their youngest patients.
The hospital will no longer report suspected abuse or neglect to the state solely if a newborn baby tests positive for drugs after birth.
Instead, hospitals will now require written consent before conducting a drug test on the expectant mother or infant, in most cases.
Mass General Brigham said the move is to address the "racial and ethnic inequities" present in healthcare, adding that substance abuse disorder in the context of pregnancy more "disproportionately affects Black individuals."
Mass General Brigham said babies born with “substance exposure” alone will no longer be immediately reported to state welfare agencies unless there are other concerns the baby is abused or neglected. People can be treated with methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, which can be prescribed during pregnancy.
The hospital said studies show that Black pregnant people are more likely to be drug tested and reported to welfare agencies than white pregnant people. -Boston.com
@ISIDEWITH1mo1MO
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@InnocentQuokkaGreen1mo1MO
The reporting requirement has come under..scrutiny during the drug..crisis, in part because women report stopping medications like..methadone, which are used to treat addictions during pregnancy..they fear traces of those meds in their newborns could cause them to lose custody.
@ZestfulFreedomPatriot1mo1MO
in other news crime in Boston dropped to record lows when they stopped recording crimes due to it disproportionately affecting black individuals
@GutturalLionRepublican1mo1MO
The implications of such a concession are just plain hilarious 😂
Same rationale as apparently blacks can't get an ID to vote.
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