“What does it mean if we as physicians say informed consent is one of our core values? …Who would think you’re signing a form that could result in such severe consequences? The truth is that it is a violation of trust to not take the time to name that and its consequences.”
“Is our consent truly informed? It can’t be in those reams of paper that people are signing,” said Perritt. Now activists are fighting back, saying the practice is rooted in racism and classism, and that it denies patients crucial agency over their care.
Perritt also recounted that when she was pregnant, she was not drug tested despite being one of the more commonly-tested demographics (Perritt is a Black woman), which she attributed to her status as a physician. “I provided care in Black and brown communities, so was routine, and it wasn’t until I got out and saw the difference in the way care was provided in communities that…were wealthier that it became clear that this is not routine, this is not what everybody does,” said Jamila Perritt, an OB-GYN in Washington, D.C., and the president and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health. A study published in the February 2004 issue of Child Abuse & Neglect also found several other factors unrelated to drug use that led to higher testing rates, including single motherhood, tobacco use, a history of preterm labor, and a history of child services involvement, among others. Several studies have found that Black women in particular are subjected to prenatal drug testing at higher rates than women in other racial and ethnic demographics, but do not have higher rates of positives. She said she never saw such consent plainly stated, even when she checked for it after the fact.ĭrug testing pregnant and postnatal people and their infants without the patient’s informed consent is a common practice in the United States - but only among certain demographics. Brewington said she was later told those papers included the consent forms that gave her providers permission to drug test her and her child.
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