Attorney General Tish James is investigating patient allegations that they were secretly drug tested while pregnant or in labor, court papers show. The active probe was revealed as part of a lawsuit filed by Garnet Health Medical Center, a private nonprofit hospital in Orange County. Two former patients accused it in 2021 of discrimination for secretly drug testing them and reporting the preliminary results — which yielded false positives for opiates — to Child Protective Services. Garnet Health is now asking a judge to quash a subpoena by the Attorney General’s Office for thousands of patients’ records dating back to 2018, which the hospital claims is “motivated by political interests.” A Garnet Health spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the case or a request for clarification on the “political interests” it was referencing. The attorney general’s office declined to comment. The hospital changed its policy in October 2021 to remove drug testing from the default list of tests conducted on labor-and-delivery patients and to require the patient’s verbal consent if a health care professional decides to order a drug test. The state Department of Health issued its own guidance to hospitals and birth centers shortly thereafter, instructing medical professionals to only perform drug testing on pregnant patients “when medically indicated” and to first obtain informed consent. But the department allowed hospitals to develop their own policies and procedures. Advocates for a statewide informed-consent requirement allege hospitals have not consistently followed or enforced them. Since then, several New Yorkers have gone public with stories of being secretly drug tested at the hospitals where they were giving birth, then getting investigated by Child Protective Services after the results were sent to the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment. A number of discrimination complaints over the practice, including the ones lodged by the two former Garnet Health patients, are now pending with the state Division of Human Rights. It’s unclear whether James' is investigating any other hospitals as part of its probe. IN OTHER NEWS: — White Plains Hospital is pursuing a $748 million addition that would expand its emergency department to address overcrowding and add 144 new inpatient beds for intensive care and medical/surgical patients. The project was approved Thursday by the state Public Health and Health Planning Council. The 10-story addition to the Westchester County hospital will add three new operating rooms and expand emergency department capacity from 31 private bays to 67 private bays to address growing volume and an increase in the severity of patients’ cases. The hospital’s emergency department volume has increased by about 61 percent between 2010 and 2023, while surgical volume has grown 84 percent in the same time, according to application materials filed with the state last year. — Northwell Health was ordered to pay a $650,000 penalty and issue over $400,000 in refunds to patients for advertising three of its emergency departments as Covid testing sites, then billing patients who only received a Covid test for emergency room visits, James announced Friday. “During a time of great stress at the height of the pandemic, Northwell Health caused more worry and frustration for New Yorkers who were sent emergency room bills for simply taking a Covid-19 test,” James said in a statement. ON THE AGENDA: — Tuesday at 10 a.m. The City Council’s hospitals and immigration committees host a joint oversight hearing on the experiences of Black migrants in New York City. — Tuesday at 6 p.m. NYC Health + Hospitals hosts its annual public meeting in Manhattan for the 2024 fiscal year. GOT TIPS? Send story ideas and feedback to Maya Kaufman at mkaufman@politico.com. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
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