{"id":2213333,"date":"2024-04-04T18:52:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T22:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/racial-inequities-massachusetts-hospital-group-wont-automatically-file-neglect-reports-for-babies-born-with-drugs-in-systems\/"},"modified":"2024-04-04T18:52:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T22:52:28","slug":"racial-inequities-massachusetts-hospital-group-wont-automatically-file-neglect-reports-for-babies-born-with-drugs-in-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/racial-inequities-massachusetts-hospital-group-wont-automatically-file-neglect-reports-for-babies-born-with-drugs-in-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts Hospital Group Doesn&#8217;t Automatically Report Neglect for Babies Born with Drugs in Systems"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fracial-inequities-massachusetts-hospital-group-wont-automatically-file-neglect-reports-for-babies-born-with-drugs-in-systems%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2213333&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A\u200c leading Massachusetts hospital group, Mass General Brigham, has revised its policy \u2063and will no longer\u2063 automatically file reports of child abuse or\u200b neglect\u200c for babies born with drugs in\u2063 their systems. They stated that babies with &#8220;substance exposure&#8221; will not be reported to welfare agencies unless there are specific concerns \u2063of abuse or neglect. Additionally, the hospital system emphasized the need for \u200cwritten consent before drug testing newborns or mothers and highlighted the racial and\u2064 ethnic \u2063disparities in the current system.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p>A major Massachusetts hospital group will no longer automatically file child abuse or neglect reports for babies who are born with illegal drugs in their systems.<\/p>\n<p>Mass General Brigham, the state\u2019s largest hospital network, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.massgeneralbrigham.org\/en\/about\/newsroom\/press-releases\/updating-system-policies-perinatal-testing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a> Tuesday that babies born with \u201csubstance exposure\u201d will no longer be immediately reported to state welfare agencies unless there are other concerns that the baby is being abused or neglected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018Substance exposure\u2019 alone, including treatment with methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, does not require a report of abuse or neglect in the absence of protective concerns for the infant,\u201d Mass General Brigham <a href=\"https:\/\/www.massgeneralbrigham.org\/en\/about\/newsroom\/press-releases\/updating-system-policies-perinatal-testing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> in a Tuesday release.<\/p>\n<p>An abuse or neglect report to the state should only be filed if there is \u201creasonable cause to believe that the infant is suffering or at imminent risk of suffering physical or emotional injury\u201d under the new policy.<\/p>\n<p>Under the new policy, hospitals will also require written consent outside of emergencies before conducting a drug test on newborns or mothers.<\/p>\n<p>The hospital system <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcboston.com\/news\/local\/mass-general-brigham-changing-infant-neglect-report\/3327237\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cited<\/a> \u201cracial and ethnic inequities,\u201d saying that \u201cmore punitive approaches\u201d to substance abuse during pregnancy \u201cdisproportionately affect Black individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudies \u2014 including some within our system \u2014 have found that Black pregnant people are more likely to be drug tested and to be reported to child welfare systems than white pregnant people,\u201d the hospital system said.<\/p>\n<p>The previous reporting requirement for babies born with drugs in their systems was criticized because it included women taking opioid addiction medications like buprenorphine or methadone, which babies can be born dependent on.<\/p>\n<p>Some women have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbur.org\/news\/2023\/06\/03\/study-stop-mandatory-child-abuse-reporting-for-infants-exposed-to-addiction-medications\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> stopping their medications out of fear of losing custody of their babies.<\/p>\n<p>The new policy is meant to \u201creduce stigma\u201d and improve access to substance abuse treatment, the hospital group said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur new perinatal testing and reporting policy is the latest step in our efforts to address longstanding inequities in substance use disorder care and to provide compassionate, evidence-based support to families, while addressing substance use disorder as a treatable health condition,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boston.com\/news\/local-news\/2024\/04\/02\/these-massachusetts-hospitals-wont-automatically-file-neglect-reports-for-babies-born-with-drugs-in-their-systems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> Sarah Wakeman, the hospital system\u2019s senior medical director for substance use disorder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe goal here is balancing the safety of infants and families,\u201d Wakeman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbur.org\/news\/2024\/04\/03\/mass-general-brigham-newborn-drug-policy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>.\u201cA positive toxicology test does not tell you anything about someone\u2019s ability to parent. Actually, a positive buprenorphine test tells you this person is engaged in treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mass General Brigham has labor rooms in both\u00a0Massachusetts and New Hampshire.<\/p>\n<p>Boston Medical Center previously made a similar change to its policy on reporting newborns born dependent on drugs their mother was taking.<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mass General Brigham, the largest hospital network in Massachusetts, has announced that it will no longer automatically submit child abuse or neglect reports for babies born with illegal drugs in their systems. The change means babies with &#8220;substance exposure&#8221; will not be reported to welfare agencies unless specific concerns arise<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":2213334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-134431889.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2213333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-134431889.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2213333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2213334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2213333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2213333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2213333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}