Newborn ICU Doctor Warns Against Automatic Child Welfare Referrals After Positive Drug Test

In a web-exclusive interview, Dr. Stephen Patrick, a newborn intensive-care specialist, explains how the opioid crisis intersects with pregnancy. He argues that automatically involving child-welfare or law-enforcement agencies after one positive test— even for legal substances like marijuana— may deter women from seeking prenatal care. The approach, he says, disproportionately harms Black and Native American families and can separate mothers from newborns without clear evidence of danger.