Mass General Brigham, a Boston, Massachusetts hospital, announced Tuesday that it will no longer report babies who are born with drugs in their system because it "disproportionately affects Black people."
"Black pregnant people are more likely to be drug tested and to be reported to child welfare systems than white pregnant people," Mass General Brigham wrote in a statement. "Substance use disorder (SUD) is a condition with significant racial and ethnic inequities, especially in the context of pregnancy, when more punitive approaches to substance use disproportionately affect Black individuals.”
When an infant has drugs in its system, the hospital will now only file a report “if there is reasonable cause to believe that the infant is suffering or at imminent risk of suffering physical or emotional injury…” According to the hospital, “‘substance exposure’ 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." And as a result, babies will now be paying the price of the “equity" agenda.
"The updated policy reflects our focus on providing safe and equitable care for all patients. The process allowed us to turn our lens inward to understand our own contributions to stigma and inequity and strive to fix them," said the hospital's Associate Chief Health Equity Officer Allison Bryant.
Senior medical director for Substance Use Disorder at Mass General Brigham Dr. Sarah Wakeman concurred, saying, “It takes a multi-pronged approach to eliminate racial inequities and drop barriers to treatment, and we will continue to enhance access through our comprehensive SUD programming throughout our organization.”
