http://www.postgazette.com/pg/11200/...pid=newspanel4
Last time, it was a bagel with poppy seeds. This time, it's pasta salad containing the tiny kernels that caused a positive test for opiates at Jameson Hospital, and the subsequent seizure of a newborn from his mother by Lawrence County, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.
Eileen Ann Bower gave birth to a son, Brandon Brothers II, at the hospital on July 13, 2009, according to the complaint filed late Friday by attorney Stanley T. Booker. After conducting a routine urine test on Ms. Bower, the hospital sent word of a positive result to Lawrence County Children and Youth Services, it said, which took Brandon when he was 3 days old and kept him in foster care for 75 days.
Ms. Bower realized only later that the result could be attributable to poppy seeds, which contain opium-like compounds, in the dressing of the Supreme Pasta Salad she ate at a picnic.
Ms. Bower's accusation comes while New Castle mother Elizabeth Mort pursues a similar case against the hospital and county, accusing them of removing her child, Isabella, in April 2010 after a poppy seed bagel caused a false positive finding of opiate consumption.
Both cases accuse the hospital of using a too-low threshold for deciding that a person has tested positive for drugs, and the county of ignoring due process before taking newborns. The county and the hospital have filed motions to dismiss Ms. Mort's case.
Representatives of the county and hospital could not be reached for comment on Ms. Bower's case.
Ms. Bower, 22, of New Castle, was at a barbecue, eating pasta salad moments before she went into labor, the complaint said. She went to Jameson's North Campus, where the test was conducted and she gave birth.
According to Mr. Booker, Jameson's policy appears to call for reporting a positive drug test to the county when the level of opiates exceeds 300 nanograms per milliliter. That threshold is much lower than that used by the federal government, and Ms. Bower's result was even lower, showing only traces of opiate.
Nonetheless, the hospital reported it, and the agency took the child, although Ms. Bower "pleaded that there must be some mistake, as she is not a drug user," the complaint said.
"Eileen was forced to experience the unbearable: The forcible seizure of her infant son by the state without any justification and the fear that she might not get him back, the loss of the experience to breast feed and bond with her infant child, the emotional turmoil and stress she was forced to endure in hopes that one day she would be reunited with Baby Brandon," the complaint said.
"The baby's doing well," said Mr. Booker, although "he just bursts out crying" when separated from his mother.
The complaint against the county agency, its caseworker and Jameson Health System alleges negligence, invasion of privacy and violation of due process. It is assigned to U.S. District Judge Terrence F. McVerry.
In October, Ms. Mort and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the county and the hospital over the seizure of her baby, Isabella Rodriguez.
A mediation effort has failed, and the county and hospital have filed motions to dismiss the case. They said that governmental employees are immune from liability and the complaint doesn't spell out a constitutional violation. Judge David S. Cercone has not yet ruled on the motions.
Utterly Insane
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