Via Radley Balko:
Mom sues Lawrence County over seizure of newborn
For the second time in a year, Lawrence County Children and Youth Services has been accused in a federal lawsuit of removing a child from a mother’s custody after a positive test for opiates allegedly triggered by poppy seeds.
Eileen Ann Bower, a Lawrence County resident whose residence and age were not provided, gave birth to a son, Brandon, on July 13, 2009, according to a complaint filed late Friday. She was stunned, it said, when a blood test at Jameson Hospital came back positive for opiates.
Brandon was taken into foster care three days after his birth, it said, and only returned on Sept. 29.
That’s the first two months of mother and son bonding completely destroyed over poppy seeds.
Where’s the call in state legislatures for Brandon’s law? Can’t they whip together a law in outrage over this? Make it a felony to take away a child without proof of harm? Where are all the Nancy Grace bloodsucking wanna-be’s over this story?
Ms. Bower is suing the county agency, its caseworker and Jameson Health System for negligence, invasion of privacy and violation of due process, according to the complaint by attorney Stanley T. Booker.
Good for her. The state should be prosecuting the county agency for kidnapping and child abuse.
So, are hospitals testing their patients for drug use now and reporting the results to the government? I’d like to know if any readers of this blog work in hospitals and can answer that question. Because if that’s happening, then that, to me, is an even bigger outrage.
The (F)Utility of DAWN:
Experts Look at the Drug Abuse Warning Network
Last week, SAMHSA’s news release announcing the numbers emphasized an increase in marijuana-related emergency room visits, raising eyebrows and causing consternation to drug reformers while providing ammunition for drug czar John Walters to fire another salvo in his crusade. “Marijuana-related medical emergencies are increasing at an alarming rate, exceeding even those for heroin. This report helps dispel the pervasive myth that marijuana is harmless,” Walters railed. “In reality, marijuana is a dangerous drug, and adults and youth alike should be aware of the serious consequences that can come from smoking it.”
Provoked by Walters’ propaganda move, DRCNet asked Dr. David Duncan, a clinical associate professor at the Brown University School of Medicine and private research consultant, just what the marijuana figures indicated. “They tell us very little,” he replied. “Does a marijuana ‘mention’ mean that marijuana played a vital role or was it ancillary? No one knows because DAWN was not set up to collect that data,” he said.
“Mr. Walters and many, many others have used this data in the wrong way,” Duncan continued. “DAWN was never set up to collect enough information to tell you useful things about problems coming into the emergency room. When someone uses DAWN numbers to try to tell you how dangerous a drug is, it’s just not set up for that.”
Duncan also questioned DAWN’s 30,000 marijuana-only “unexpected reaction or overdose” reports. He scoffed at the very notion of a marijuana overdose. “Marijuana overdose just doesn’t happen, as the term is normally used in medicine,” he said. “What I expect is being labeled an overdose is really an unexpected reaction. You can get very stoned or paranoid or have psychedelic effects with very large doses, but that is not an overdose in the normal sense of the term.”
A cannabis overdose is theoretically possible, Duncan conceded, but a practical impossibility. “The estimate is that a 150-pound man would have to eat five pounds of hashish,” he said. “What that means is that you can’t eat enough to produce a life-threatening overdose.”
Harkin to Lie
New DAWN detergent for flaky old politicians,
cleans up discrepancies in the statistics.
Reefer Madness, Courtesy of Senator Tom Harkin
March 3rd, 2008 By: Ron Fisher, NORML Outreach Coordinator
Senator Tom Harkin: Marijuana Makes People Sell Their Children
By “Radical” Russ Belville on March 4, 2008
Senator Harkin, you should be ashamed of this reefer madness.
Let’s address some of your points:
Screening will generally occur with any E.R. admit, as well as pre-surgical. Some hospitals will screen anybody admitted overnight. And you’ll be tested if you’re a psych admit for sure. The problem comes when the blood test comes back positive. The hospital staff is required by law to inform social services of that positive test (I think that was another Joe Biden law). They (social services) should have followed up with the mother after the test to try to ascertain if the test might have been erroneous. And, it was social services’ job to confirm this before taking precipitous action.
In cases where a third party alleges physical abuse, no social worker would remove the child from the home absent bruising or other verifiable signs. But for drug use, a test (that they know produces false positives) is good enough. A single positive urine test is a very low bar as far as a standard of proof goes. I hope they get their asses sued clean OFF.
Iirc, they don’t check everyone, but they do screen ER visits.
What about the children?
I assume they drug test so they can treat the patients appropriately if there are complications.
False positives are a lot more common than some may think. I often see pts pos for amphetamines due to winter cold medicine.
Great post.
We are quite literally living in a country gone mad.
Brandon’s law? They are more likely to just make poppy seeds illegal.
I was asked about marijuana use when I went to the ER for a GALLBLADDER ATTACK! I presume that that visit would then be listed as “marijuana related”
I would wind up in jail for murder if the state attempted to take my baby away.
Amen brother.
they plan to drug test everybody everywhere as frequently as possible. it’s all spelled out in the latest ndcs.
Right, that’s what he/they meant by letting science lead the way in drug policy.
Yep. That’s the plan. Fourth ammendment and innacurate tests be damned.
Congresscritter: Well, if the founders didn’t want us to stretch the 4th into oblivion they wouldn’t have put such an elastic word as “unreasonable” in it. And those false positives will be a small price to pay for the safety of the kids, just think about the kids!…. lol all the way to the bank
Ok. so I can blame at humor when I let my thc levels drop.
Try this on for size – A friend told me last week about a couple that had just had a baby – congratulations right! WRONG. The hospital had come up with a positive test regarding THC and the mother (it was a nominal amount from what I understand.) From that point they brought the parents in and told them that not only had this test been positive, but that they were “seeing signs of dependence” in the newborn (3 days old at the time I believe.) At this point, the father said that they had thrown a party not long ago and during the celebration, he had taken a couple hits from a joint that someone had brought to the party. Upon this admission, the hospital immediatley contacted child services and an inspection was done on every square foot of their home – guess what – they found a little paraphenalia. Now they keep the baby – these parents had to go to court, blah, blah, blah and fortunately, they are now safe at home with their baby ( alongside with random 24hour notice inspections for the next 12 months…) Where was child services in the 60s, 70s, and 80s when everyone was pimping how great smoking and drinking was….oh thats right, those items are legal, sorry I brought it up.
.
.
Religionists are such total hypocrites. They make me have very disturbed, violent thoughts. If they don’t like babies ingesting cannabinoids at birth they need to go arrest the Great Fairy because the first thing he does is feed kids mother’s milk teeming with endo-cannabinoids. OK, I admit it, despite making perfect sense* that probably wouldn’t fly. So they should just make breast feeding illegal until science figures out how to neutralize the endo-cannabinoids in Mom’s teats.
(perfect sense like universal translators on Star Trek make perfect sense, in context. it’s all fiction for crying out loud.)
So that is the dividend for acting in accord with the pro-life agenda.
.
.
As soon as human medicine advances to the point that the nascent baby can be brought to term without forcing the woman to carry to term I’ll start backing a ban on elective abortion.
The conflict of the rights of 2 human beings is the crux of this issue. One has to choose which person gets priority. There’s no guarantee that the fetus will survive until birth. I’ve read that as many as 1 in 3 pregnancies end with spontaneous abortion. (AKA a miscarriage).
The mother is an established human being.
A birth certificate is required to be acknowledged as a citizen. A fetus doesn’t have one.
In the Middle Ages the Catholic Church did not acknowledge a live birth until the baby was 21 days old. Parents often disposed of their newborns, particularly the sick and/or deformed baby during that time. The major difference is that infant mortality was pushing 30% in some places and that just isn’t a factor any more.
I think that those facts come down in favor of protecting the mother’s right to personal autonomy. On Star Trek they could beam a baby from one uterus to another. At that point both parties rights can be protected, though to a lesser degree because I’m really skeptical that we’ll ever develop matter/energy conversion devices.
You could likely talk me into supporting a vote up or down on elective abortion to settle this thing once and for all. Two qualifications though; no men get to be part of that vote, and the vote is the absolute end of the controversy. No, I’m not holding my breath.
The war on families continues with each drug interdiction. The tragedies can be found everywhere. They’re getting worse each year as the crusade drags on.
Keeping with tradition in the U.S. war on families, Wisconsin Supreme Court Strangler-in-Chief, Justice David Prosser, says it’s okay to effectively deny 15-year-old kids their right to a public education during the student’s formative years based on nothing more than a minor marijuana crime:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/07/19/272967/weed-makes-you-dumb-by-law/
.
.
From time to time I ponder when Congress passed a law that prevents people with felony convictions from getting food stamps. Sometimes I think are these people idiots? Does anyone really believe that starving an armed robber is a good idea? I really think the laws should be created in order to promote reintegration, but no food promotes recidivism.
The new Jim Crows of the Health care system. Saves Insurance Inc. A Wingnut production of dysfunctional moneysluts. Making doctors cops and letting cops decide on medicinal use of Ganja. Doing no harm to the prison industrial system. Keeping the Koch welfare rats gnawing away the Constitution in the name of Liberty. The Freedom to make people sick. What is this message going to be kiddies? If you smoke a joint make sure you jeopardize the unborn kid in fear of doctors ratting you out to the Foster Kid Rentals. 10 kids @ a grand a piece per month is a good living for a trailer park lush for geeeeeezus. The basic right of privacy and control over your own body is flushed along with any trust between patient and doctors. Any doctor or clinic should be humiliated by thousands of people protesting, like the westboro wingnuts and teabog ditto’s do to women’s clinics.
These are not healers. They’re snitches in lab coats. Probably made mandatory like reporting gun wounds. There should be a three day cooling off period between the witch hunts and legislative cures like pisstasting a prego for pot. Pot is gooooood fer a fetus and calms down the mother. Relieves nausea and cramps and has no detrimental effects. Thousands of years of use especially in woman’s health issues from menstruation to miscarriages cannabis was what the doctor ordered. These AMA employees put profit over patients. Hospitals have become very efficient getting the patients out the door. More leaving with different illnesses than they entered with. Many more not leaving. All finding Triage units and not the old fashioned calm and peaceful surroundings. Buzzers bells and whistles going off because its more efficient to cut staff than CEO golden parachutes.
Warehousing is the new growth industry by Corporate Nursing firms no less. Think you might live out your life in the home you built. Not good for the real estate market, better to b e farmed out. Taxing the patient for home health care providers, a third of the local budgets transferred to Obombo. There are alternatives to the racket calling itself Big Pharma Health. These same hypocrites stealing new born babies testing positive are pushing to close down prenatal care and prevention to avoid abortions. These same hypocrites testing for Ganja spray these women and their fetus with farm poisons on cotton not used on hemp that these same hypocrites outlawed. Once again the dung worrier liars endanger citizens in the name of protecting them in this hideous war on some drugs, mostly plants. Now driving them away from prenatal care and safe stress free environments birthing in hospitals. All that’s missing is the check points and black copters. Papers pleez!
Midwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding.
A practitioner of midwifery is known as a midwife, a term used in reference to both women and men, although the majority of midwives are female.[1] In addition to providing care to women during pregnancy and birth, many midwives also provide primary care to women, well-woman care related to reproductive health, annual gynecological exams, family planning, and menopausal care.
Midwives are autonomous practitioners who are specialists in low-risk pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. They generally strive to help women to have a healthy pregnancy and natural birth experience. Midwives are trained to recognize and deal with deviations from the normal. Obstetricians, in contrast, are specialists in illness related to childbearing and in surgery. The two professions can be complementary, but often are at odds because obstetricians are taught to “actively manage” labor, while midwives are taught not to intervene unless necessary.
* Midwives americanpregnancy.org
The term midwife reflects a philosophy of care; one that is directed at the woman and her individual reproductive needs. A midwife usually offers a variety of options and seeks to eliminate or minimize unnecessary interventions.This philosophy of care is represented by the Midwives Model of Care.
* The Midwives Alliance of North America
MANA’s goal is to unify and strengthen the profession of midwifery, thereby improving the quality of health care for women, babies, and communities. MANA also welcomes student and midwifery advocate members as another valuable part of the organization.
CHILDREN/ YOUNG ADULTS * Linx
* Pregnancy and Pot
By “Dr Kate” – Monday, August 31 1998
Pot can be safely used during pregnancy, and can help with several of the discomforts/problems associated therewith ? a fact little known by the medical community, and even much of the herbalist community.
* Pot while breast-feeding
This suggests that a baby fed by a lactating marijuana user might be more likely to have a healthy, well-regulated appetite.
There are several other studies of the effects of marijuana use on the fetus. None have shown any significant differences in functioning.
* Ganja mothers, ganja babies
* Marijuana during pregnancy
The 30-day test showed that children of ganja-using mothers were superior to children of non-ganja mothers in two ways: the children had better organization and modulation of sleeping and waking, and they were less prone to stress-related anxiety.
* Breathe, Push, Puff?
Pot Use and Pregnancy
* A Surprising Solution to Severe Morning Sickness By Erin Hildebrandt
* Women & Weed
CC.14: Feature Section: Sep/Oct 1998
* Women & Pot: A Personal Essay
by Tina Vascani, illustrations by Darcy Muenchrath
One woman describes her relationship with marijuana, and how it has changed her life
* Moms, kids and drugs by Susan Boyd
Punishing “druggie moms” and seizing their children is big business in North America.
* The PMS/Pot Proclamation by “Dr Kate”
Hondreds of testimonials and herbal experts agree that marijuana can alliviate PMS!
* Marijuana and the Goddess by Chris Bennet, illustrations by Ken Lee
* Experiences with THC-treatment in children and adolescents
* An efficient new cannabinoid antiemetic in pediatric oncology.
* Nabilone versus prochlorperazine
for control of cancer chemotherapy-induced emesis in children
* Nabilone: an alternative antiemetic for cancer chemotherapy.
* Therapeutic uses of Medical Marijuana in the treatment of ADD
* Oily fish makes ‘babies brainier’
* Cannabis is a First-Line Treatment for Childhood Mental Disorders
* Ganja use among Jamaican women.
* Dreher’s Jamaican Pregnancy Study
* Cannabis Relieves Morning Sickness
* Moderate cannabis use not harmful to the brain of adolescents, M R I study finds
* No brain structural change associated with adolescent cannabis use
Wall street’s Spontaneous Abortionists
Tobacco and alcohol use by pregnant women has adverse effects on the fetus. Tobacco use causes an increase in SIDS and miscarriages. It is estimated that 3700 children die by the age of one month because of complications from the mother’s smoking during pregnancy.
The Assassins of Youth: FRCn PDFA/DARE
But as things stand now, the $195 million national media campaign to dissuade youngsters from using illicit drugs will not spend a penny in Federal funds to warn teenagers about the Dangers of drinking.
US pediatrician suggests government should take obese children away from their parents
Pharmageddon: Prescription drugs are killing America’s youth
Monsanto:
The world’s poster child for corporate manipulation and deceit
Marijuana Can’t Kill, But Marijuana Prohibition Certainly Can
Ultimately one has to wonder the efficacy and intentions of such programs and to what degree the use of them only serves to stigmatize various individuals. After all it’s one thing to have the child’s interests at heart but its another thing when all it does is alienate individuals and label them in a way that on some level removes liability from the hospital should anything ever go wrong.
http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/07/mother-loses-custody-of-her-new-born-child-after-failing-opiate-drug-test-because-she-ate-a-salad-containing-poppy-seed-dressing/
I really did enjoy the episode of Law & Order where they turned a Nancy Grace clone into a murderer, even though it was a bogus “reckless disregard for human life” charge.
“The story you are about to see is fictional. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is mere coinky dink.”
I guess the state needs more newborns to profit from. This is outrageous and something needs to be done, however as long as the government offers incentives for each child successfully placed into adoption this will not stop. It’s proven that people want to adopt babies, which is why it just makes more financial sense for the government to go after the youngest of victims to fatten their wallets.
????