It is funny how much the harebrained schemes of the left to combat racism usually just encourage more racism. But this instance is just sad — and very, very dangerous.
Up in leftist Massachusetts, specifically Boston, several hospitals — including Mass General Brigham, Newton-Wellesley, and Salem — will no longer immediately file reports of child abuse and neglect if newborns are born with drugs in their systems.
Apparently, to quote local news site Boston.com, "Mass General Brigham announced Tuesday it is revamping its policies regarding pregnant people with substance abuse disorders, a condition which the hospital said disproportionately affects Black people and does not alone signal child abuse or neglect."
Granted, the new policy would make toxicology testing require written consent outside of emergencies. This is understandable, given the legal minefield the medical profession can be, but there will be additional factors taken into account before a baby is ruled to be abused or neglected.
I don't know about you, but if I were a doctor and a baby was born with drugs in her system, I would immediately be worried about the quality of care the kid would receive from her mother regardless of skin color.
WBUR provided additional context, in that apparently, too many pregnant women taking anti-addiction medication like methadone and buprenorphine get off the meds because they are worried doctors finding traces of those substances will make them lose their kids.
"The goal here is balancing the safety of infants and families,” said Dr. Sarah Wakeman, senior medical director for substance use disorder at Mass General Brigham. “A positive toxicology test does not tell you anything about someone’s ability to parent. Actually, a positive buprenorphine test tells you this person is engaged in treatment," said WBUR
So why not frame it that way? I am sure plenty of women who used to be addicts are wonderful mothers so that part is a bit more understandable. Still, even if you can see a reason for not immediately reporting abuse or neglect of a baby from a toxicology report showing the newborn has drugs in his system, you never know how the mother will behave later as her baby grows.
And in the name of remedying something that is disproportionately unfair to black mothers, this new system could very well end up disproportionately harming their kids. If hospitals stopped immediately reporting abuse or neglect because disproportionate amounts of white, Latin, or Asian women were found to be targeted, the ultimate result would remain the same.
Still, this is not the first time a Massachusetts hospital adopted policies out of anti-racism that will likely backfire spectacularly. Back in January, Matt Margolis detailed how the Milford Regional Medical Center would deny care to patients if they act rudely, offensively, or in a racist manner. As he described, the measure could easily be exploited by patients and doctors alike, making it very easy to politicize.
Related: Massachusetts Hospital May Deny Care to Some Patients in the Name of Inclusivity
A little more recently, in mid-March, Lincoln Brown wrote another article about how certain oximeter manufacturers in the United Kingdom did not adequately account for how melanin affects oxygen saturation in blood, meaning results could potentially be inaccurate.
So the thing to do was make sure they accounted for melanin levels when tabulating oxygen saturation, right?
No, not really.
"It’s clear the lack of diverse representation in health research, the absence of robust equity considerations and the scarcity of co-production approaches, have led to racial bias in medical devices," as Brown quoted Prof. Habib Naqvi in The Guardian.
For Our VIPs: Medical Devices Are Racist, Claim UK Researchers
Remember when doctors would just treat people?
