Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Nov
28
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“I’ll Be Randomly Drug Testing You Throughout Your Pregnancy.”
“I’ll be randomly drug testing you throughout your pregnancy.” – OB to mother at 8 week prenatal.
There are 38 comments to this post.
My employer can do this. I’m in a safety sensitive position and they are required by law to randomly test 10% of their employees.
They also cover all the costs of the test and pay me for my time. I’m willing to bet this OB charges for all these tests. Here’s an idea. How about I drug test you randomly since you are my employee?
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Gaevren Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 4:49 am (Quote)
Employers can do this and sometimes are legally obligated to. An OB deciding to “just do it”? Hell to the no.
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Carrie Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 6:52 am (Quote)
I think this is what Heather P was trying to say. 
That’s what I got from the last sentance, at least; since the patient is paying the OB, the OB becomes (technically, at least) the “employee,” so she’d be within rights to subject the OB to drug testing, not the other way around.
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Amy Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 8:17 am (Quote)
From the submission, I gathered that the OB was going to test her without telling her…
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Kristin Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 1:30 pm (Quote)
Then why tell her in the first place?
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Sheva Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 3:46 pm (Quote)
So she would stop using the drugs she’d been using til now, of course.
We all smoke, drink, and use drugs until we get knocked up.
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Jane Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 4:06 pm (Quote)
Surely you mean we all smoke, drink and use drugs until we get knocked up and an OB saves us from ourselves by announcing random non-consented drug testing.
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Sheva Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 6:30 pm (Quote)
*gasp* Are you implying that I would not stop my extracurricular activities when knocked up unless the OB was there to save me?? And that if, heaven forbid, I was with a witch–I mean midwife, she would not have the tools or education to make me stop?
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road2vba2c had this to say,
Nov 28, 2012 @ 4:54 am (Quote)
And your diagnosis for this? Are we being socioeconimically biased? Ethnically biased? Seriously, what’s your issue, doc? Do you not realize (at least for now) WE choose what tests to accept or deny?
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I’m more surprised that he told her that instead of just putting drug testing on the requisition. That happens a lot. Make sure you know what all the tests are on a requisition before submitting a sample- you can refuse tests just like you can refuse medical procedures.
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Proginoskes had this to say,
Nov 28, 2012 @ 9:23 am (Quote)
I do not consent to unnecessary drug testing, so, how about… NO?
Does the OB not realize that some women pay out-of-pocket for care?
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I just had a horrible thought. What if this doctor recognizes that the practice’s policy of randomly drug-testing patients is wrong, but the doctor knows that if s/he speaks up, it’ll mean the loss of a cushy job?
What if this is the doctor’s way of warning women it could happen so they can remove themselves from the practice before they’re subjected to unnecessary tests, the risk of false positives, and any sequelae that happen as a result of testing positive?
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Here they drug test infants at birth (one more reason to home birth) without informing the parents. I simply put in my birth plan that I didn’t consent and they treated me like I had something to hide. I didn’t, just don’t believe in stressing the baby any more than necessary.
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This was mine. I wasn’t on welfare- or drugs. It was my first pregnancy and my very first prenatal appointment. My OB asked if I did drugs, and I told her I did not. She then looked me and my husband up and down and informed me that she would be testing me anyway. I didn’t know how to react, but after I got home I became furious. Needless to say, my next appointment was with a midwife. I’ve never gone back to that clinic.
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road2vba2c Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 11:32 am (Quote)
Good for you! That is so horrible that she acted like that!
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Jane Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 11:38 am (Quote)
Awesome! And I think you reacted just fine. 
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Echo Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 11:40 am (Quote)
Reasons that someone would look you up and down and recommend drug testing:
You were young
Tattoos/piercings/dyed hair funny colors
Not white
Looked poor
A damn good reason to tell that Dr. to shove it and find one who actually does their job rather than sitting on some bigoted judgy-Mcjudgerson pedestal.
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Carrie Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 12:17 pm (Quote)
Skin color doesn’t matter in this… I’ve seen plenty of white people who look like stoners, a few of whom I know have never touched anything harder than a cigarette in their lives.
OP, I’m glad you didn’t go back!
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Meghan Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 12:34 pm (Quote)
People of all races use/abuse drugs at about the same rate. Minorities are many times more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for drug use and possession. Race does matter when discussing issues like this because we live in a racist country.
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Jamie Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 1:49 pm (Quote)
It also depends on the demographic of where you live, not necessarily the skin color. As for the minority status, I’m white and live in AZ. Around here I’m the minority.
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Jessi Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 3:47 pm (Quote)
We live in Minnesota, we’re both white, early thirties, middle class. However, my husband DOES have long hair.
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Katie Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 8:24 pm (Quote)
Long hair in men clearly implies drug use, even if you’re just married to a man who chooses to have long hair. I think the correlation is that people who are too busy doing drugs don’t have time to get haircuts.
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are you kidding!! here they dont drug test as far as i know, the midwife at your booking in appointment asks if as a part of your admission paperwork if you use any drugs illegal or otherwise, before you answer they explain they do not judge they just need to know so that the baby can get the special care it will need after the birth as they will get withdrawals (cue screaming baby who screams no stop not feeding or sleeping for 2-3 days) obviously for baby;s safety it would be best to stop but they cant do anything about it it you use… well along those lines anyway. its not that hard, why cant others do that, i can understand lying in other circumstances but when it comes to your baby’s safety wouldnt you just say yes i smoke _______ on occasion…? most people would im sure
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I adopted, and was allowed to have copies of the birthmom’s medical file pertaining to the pregnancy and labor (with her consent of course) She is white, VERY young (16), and grew up in a “hippy” lifestyle minus drugs. Her mom, who has dreds etc, attended her first few appointments with her before I took over, and sure enough on the first appointment doctor notes was “suspected drug use based on appearance” I never liked that OB but it was the one she wanted to use (and I have a post from the pregnancy on this page from 2011 about how he treated ME). And yes, he tested her for drugs EVERY appointment. And the baby got tested by law. Everyone came up clean. Birthmom DID overdo the mountain dew and energy drinks so baby did have Caffeine withdrawl and was born, full term, 5 lbs. But they don’t test nor really explain why caffeine is to be limited during pregnancy.
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Add Your Comment.
“No, you won’t.”
If a practice that thinks it’s perfectly fine to violate patient rights during prenatals when there’s no cause, what are they going to do during labor? What else do they feel justified doing? How many other tests and procedures do they perform without consent? How many other times do they withhold information?
OP: I hope you were out of there so fast you left tire tracks in the waiting room.
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road2vba2c Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 4:51 am road2vba2c(Quote)
Nail, meet head. This reminds me of my second pregnancy. Same OB office as my first, wanted to give me a repeat HIV screening. I refused, but when I got the consent for the bloodwork to sign, HIV was on there. I told her I said no, and the nurse said, “I know, it’s just something we do with every pregnancy.” I had to fight her for a good two minutes before she took it off!
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