A Costco salad could explain why a mother tested positive for opiates

The night before Susan Horton gave birth to her daughter, contractions had already begun and she wanted something quick and easy for dinner.

She enjoyed a frozen pizza and an “everything” salad kit from Costco from the fridge. She remembers how delicious the salad was and how the poppy seeds crunched in her mouth.

The next day, the 39-year-old gave birth at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Santa Rosa. But when a nurse came to her room, instead of bringing her healthy newborn, Halle, she told Horton that her urine had tested positive for opiates and she couldn't take her baby home.

Horton was stunned. “Are you sure it's my urine?” she remembered asking the nurse. She had no idea how it could be positive for anything. Only later did Horton and her family begin to suspect that the poppy seeds from the salad were the likely reason for the positive drug test, triggering a traumatic battle with authorities to prove that Horton was a healthy mother and not a drug user.

The hospital opened an investigation into the incident.

“It was devastating for our family,” Horton said.

The case, which occurred in 2022, was recently reported by Reveal News and the Marshall Project as one of several examples of parents who were turned over to child protective services and lost custody of their children due to inaccurate drug testing.

The incident began during the pandemic when Horton decided to skip some prenatal appointments because she lived with high-risk people and didn't want to risk exposing them to COVID-19. When she arrived at Kaiser Hospital to give birth, staff questioned her about whether she had missed any prenatal appointments and asked if she would be willing to provide a urine sample, which she did. She doesn't remember them asking if they could test the urine for drugs.

When the test came back, hospital staff told Horton they needed to file a report with Child Protective Services. Horton asked if she could take another urine test, but was told a second test would not cancel out the first one she took.

Eventually, Horton found that her urine contained codeine — an opioid painkiller typically used in cough medicine. Although Horton had not taken any cough medication, health officials say consuming poppy seed products can result in positive results for morphine, codeine or both due to the sensitivity of drug testing. Horton remembered that the Costco salad she ate the night before she gave birth contained lots of poppy seeds.

Later that day, a Child Protective Services worker came to the hospital to speak with Horton and her husband. Horton recalled being asked about her upbringing and her other children. The worker also wanted Horton to sign a written agreement between CPS and the guardians about how dangerous situations will be handled. Horton refused.

“I chose not to sign it because it would feel like I was admitting guilt,” she told the Times. “I wasn’t guilty and I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Horton later received documents indicating that Halle was not safe in her and her husband's care and was being removed. Halle also had to stay at Kaiser for another five days to be monitored for drug withdrawal symptoms. Horton decided to stay with her.

Horton's mother-in-law was granted temporary custody of Halle and the family left the hospital with a court date scheduled for two days later. Because her mother-in-law lived about five minutes away from her in Santa Rosa, Horton said she was able to visit and care for the newborn.

In court, Horton and her husband were asked if they would take another drug test, which showed a negative result. A CPS worker also came to their home and observed their children. During the second trial, the judge dismissed the case and Horton's baby was returned to her care approximately two weeks after birth.

“I just wanted to be home with my husband and kids,” Horton said.

Horton said she was upset with how Kaiser handled the situation and that her family plans to change their insurance company. Her husband also reported the ordeal to Kaiser; The hospital said it would investigate the incident, but Horton has not yet heard back on the results.

“I was treated as if I was guilty rather than innocent until proven guilty. “It really traumatized us,” she added.