"New Brunswick will review all child protection cases
involving unreliable hair-based drug and alcohol testing from the
discredited Motherisk lab, following a CBC News investigation. The provincial government had previously said it would only review closed cases if a family requested a second look. The Department of Social Development now says it will
proactively check its files, as critics questioned whether flawed drug
tests may have caused children to be permanently separated from their
parents.........The change of heart is the latest move by the province to address concerns about the questionable tests. Last week, the provincial government said as of March 1 that it
has stopped using hair testing from any lab as evidence in child
protection cases. Ontario did the same last April. The Department of Social Development also vows it will stop
using hair testing from any lab as evidence against parents in court,
MacLean said. The Department of Social Development also vows it will stop
using hair testing from any lab as evidence against parents in court,
MacLean said. As many as 1,400 people in New Brunswick had their hair sampled
at Motherisk's Toronto lab, a CBC News investigation has revealed. Hundreds of those people produced at least one positive test
between 1997 and 2015, results the lab now admits may be inaccurate. Norman Bossé, the province's child and youth
advocate, has argued the New Brunswick government should review all
cases involving the discredited hair testing. Ontario has launched a sweeping review into 25 years worth of
cases, looking to see if hair-based drug testing was given too much
weight by judges.........Close to 1,000 people from Nova Scotia had their hair tested at
Motherisk, according to The Hospital for Sick Children. It estimates
between 250 to 380 people had at least one positive test. While Ontario and New Brunswick have now banned the use of hair
testing, Nova Scotia continues to use tests from other labs. The
province says it's still deciding whether it will ban the tests. The province also hasn't committed to proactively reviewing its files to see if harm was done by Motherisk's testing. Nova Scotia says it will only examine individual closed files
if government receives a request from a person, their lawyer or a
children's aid agency."
|
|
|
