Lawsuit: UPMC urine test sparked child abuse investigation

A woman alleged Wednesday that staff at UPMC took a urine sample while she gave birth and drug-tested it without her knowledge, leading to a false positive, according to the lawsuit filed against the hospital system.

Cherell Harrington, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, was admitted to Magee-Womens Hospital in late November 2017 for the birth of her third child. While there, staff allegedly collected her urine and tested it for drugs – including marijuana, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit names UPMC and Allegheny County and alleges myriad violations, including of the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, 14^th Amendment and doctor-patient confidentiality.

Harrington said medical staff never asked permission or told her they were taking a urine sample.

According to the lawsuit, the test returned an “unconfirmed positive” for marijuana, with the test results noting that tests “may react with compounds other than the drugs indicated and therefore are not definitive.”

The day after her child was born, Harrington alleged, a hospital social worker informed her she’d tested positive for marijuana and, although the child tested negative, the test results would be reported to the Allegheny County Department of Children, Youth and Families.

Harrington said she was informed the following day that she was being investigated for child abuse.

According to the lawsuit, a CYF caseworker photographed her newborn and told her there would be a home inspection once she was discharged from the hospital. At that home inspection on Dec. 4, 2017, the caseworker inspected the house and asked Harrington’s preteen daughter “about her mother’s ‘use of addictive substances,’ ” the lawsuit alleged.

Harrington said the caseworker told her she’d be required to enter into longer-term drug testing if she didn’t complete drug counseling. Her second drug test came back negative, and her drug counseling assessment indicated she did not need treatment.

“UPMC clinicians make informed decisions regarding screening and drug testing for new mothers and newborns. UPMC follows Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services Law, which mandates health care professionals to report these findings to the Pennsylvania Office of Children, Youth and Family Services,” the hospital said in a statement.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Harrington said she wants UPMC to acknowledge the harm caused by the whole experience.

“We were there to deliver our children,” she said. “And what they did was so traumatizing and so hurtful. I can’t get that birth, I can’t get those days back. I can’t. I want them to change what they are doing and just stop it.”

Two other mothers named in the lawsuit leveled similar allegations at UPMC.

Deserae Cook alleged she answered honestly an intake questionnaire at UPMC Mercy in 2018 about prior drug use. She said she’d smoked marijuana in the past but stopped once she learned she was pregnant, according to the lawsuit. She and her newborn were both drug tested, she said, and the results were negative.

CYF still opened an investigation, according to the lawsuit.

“It was like a kick in the stomach,” Cook told the Associated Press. “What’s the reasoning? It felt embarrassing and humiliating. It felt like they were trying to find something, trying to take our child away.”

The class-action lawsuit seeks to cover all women who, after March 11, 2018, were admitted to UPMC facilities to give birth and were subjected to a urine drug test along with their newborn and the results turned over to CYF, as well as new mothers who, as of the same date, were investigated by CYF “based solely on reports of past marijuana use” or a urine drug test that was positive for marijuana.