Reference no: EM133921954

Question

The nurses suspected that a pregnant patient was a drug abuser and that she had used drugs during the last month of her pregnancy. After his birth, the hospital screened her newborn son for drugs and discovered that he had cocaine in his system. Under state law, this was a form of child abuse. After the attending physician and nursing staff notified hospital administration of the infant's positive drug results, administrative staff contacted the appropriate state agency for child abuse. Shortly after the release from the hospital of the mother and infant, child protective services came to the mother's home and removed the infant. The mother sued the hospital, physician, and nursing staff members for conspiring to violate her Constitutional rights.

How should the court rule in such a case? Were the hospital personnel correct in having the infant tested for drugs? How does the disclosure statutes defense protect the hospital and its personnel or was that defense allowable in this case?