Friday, October 15, 2010
Diana Williams
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New Castle, PENN. (WABC) -- This is a story that will likely outrage many moms. Liz Mort gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, but the next day, police and child protective services in Pennsylvania came to her home and took the infant from her - all because of a bagel.
Liz Mort says she never saw it coming.
"I was shocked. I was at a loss for words. I just started crying," she said.
Child protective services in Pennsylvania were at her doorstep, taking her 1-day-old baby because they thought Liz was abusing drugs.
"Someone was saying that 'Oh, we're CYS and we found something in your system,' and at that time I never even heard of it before. It means that we have to take custody of your child," Mort said.
Jameson Hospital in New Castle, Pennsylvania, tests mothers of newborns for drugs. State law allows it, but what the hospital did not consider more closely was poppy seeds.
"Opium comes from the poppy plant. Ingesting poppy seeds can cause levels of morphine and codeine in a person's urine," Dr. Neil Capretto explained.
On the day Liz gave birth, she says she ate an Everything bagel from Dunkin' Donuts - a bagel with lots of poppy seeds. Now, the local ACLU is taking on the case.
The hospital issued a statement saying: "We have initiated an investigation to compare our standards to other community and regional hospitals. And if necessary, we will advise our reference lab to critique their standards for consistency."
But Liz isn't sure yet it that will be enough.
"I understand that they were doing what they had to do to protect children, but they should have investigated it more. Like I have to drive by that place every day when I go to work, and I just cry every time," said Liz.
So far, no lawsuit has been filed. The ACLU says it is trying to figure out the next step. Liz did get her baby back, but it took 5 days for the hospital and child protective services to determine she was a fit mother.
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