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Successfully treating infants of drug-dependent mothers is easier when the dependency is recognized before or soon after birth. This report documents the presence of drug metabolites in the meconium (the first three days' stool) of newborn infants, and suggests that testing meconium for drugs may be a suitable alternative to urine screening, which often yields false-negative results.
The investigators collected meconium for three days from 20 newborn infants whose mothers had a history of drug abuse during pregnancy. Cocaine metabolites were found in the meconium of 80 percent of the infants, morphine metabolites in 55 percent, and cannabinoid metabolites in 60 percent. In contrast, urine screens were positive in only 37 percent of the infan…