Racial “equity” is putting newborns in danger.
NBC Boston reports a change has taken place in the Mass General Brigham Hospital system regarding infant neglect and abuse.
Suspected abuse or neglect will no longer be reported to state officials on the sole basis of a newborn testing positive for drugs. This change was made as those expectant mothers reported for substance abuse were disproportionately black.
According to the Boston Globe, officials for Mass General Brigham said, “That an infant has been exposed to a substance — be it methadone or buprenorphine, which are used to treat opioid use disorder, or other drugs — will not require a report of abuse or neglect if there aren’t other ‘protective concerns.’”
A legal mandate in Massachusetts required reporting suspected child neglect if the baby is exposed to what the mandate considers an “addictive drug.”
While the statute is still in place, Sarah Wakeman, the system’s senior medical director for substance use disorder, says the new policy relies on a different interpretation of it.
Filing a report under the statute requires the child to have a “physical dependence upon an addictive drug at birth,” and providers should have “reasonable cause to believe” a newborn is suffering from physical or emotional injury as a result of drug exposure.
Mass General Brigham will now focus on the “reasonable cause” wording when determining if a report is warranted.
Wakeman said the previous reporting decisions focused on the first criteria only.
Will this shocking rule end up harming black people more than anyone else?
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Associate chief health equity officer at Mass General Brigham, Allison Bryant, MD, said, “Those structural policies may not be written in a way that screams racism, but if you dig down deep” you will find inequities.
These racial inequities seen by the system involve the aforementioned black mothers being reported disproportionately.
Needless to say, the hospital is approaching this problem in a manner that puts newborn children at risk.
Appropriate officials will now not be kept informed regarding what mothers are doing to their bodies if they are addicts or recovering addicts.
A report being filed does not mean removal from the home for a child, but it does mean an investigation into the child’s wellbeing.
The great irony here is that Massachusetts‘ largest health care provider aims to help black mothers as part of its “racial equity” agenda. The policy actually harms black children.
Mass General Brigham seems to think it is OK to let addicts be addicts with children harmed by their addictions because the truth is more hurtful.
The truth is these children need help and intervention to keep them safe.
