Drug testing of a pregnant woman and neonate may be done for some patient groups but not for others. This may be done in the name of risk-based testing.
Situations where drug testing is done more often (perceived high-risk):
(1) Medicaid
(2) Blacks or Hispanics
(3) urban low-income
Situations where drug testing may be done less often (perceived low-risk):
(1) affluent
(2) White or Asian
Consequences of failing to test all mothers and neonates:
(1) drug use during pregnancy may be missed, preventing interventions to reduce drug use
(2) increased risk for neonatal malformations
(3) failure to recognize neonatal abstinence signs and symptoms
(4) failure to recognize infections associated with drug use
(5) misleading statistics on drug use, which may reinforce bias
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