Drug screening and criminal prosecution of pregnant women.
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Fourth Amendment rights of 10 women were violated by a hospital that provided them prenatal care. The incidence of prenatal drug testing for criminal prosecution with or without a woman's knowledge is increasing. Concurrently, funding and availability of drug treatment programs for pregnant women are declining. Nurses and physicians who act as advocates for the state rather than the patient damage the patient-provider relationship and breach their ethical responsibility to the patient.
Foley
Elizabeth M
EM
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA. emfoley@mediaone.net
D003219:Confidentiality / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications; D014481:United States