“I was in labor. I was sitting in the bed. I was having contractions. I was on a Pitocin drip, and the doctor came in and said, ‘You’ve tested positive for opiates,'” Elizabeth Eden told WBAL TV11. Eden, who had eaten a poppy seed bagel that morning, says she remembered hearing that poppy seeds — which come from opium poppies — can lead to false positives on drug tests, and told the doctor about her breakfast choice. Because of her breakfast choice, Eden's daughter had to stay in the hospital on hold for five days and mom was assigned a state case worker for a home check-up. After realizing Eden's situation was a legitimate case of the poppy seed defense, her case worker closed the file, but it was an ordeal she hopes no other mom must go through. Traumatizing though it may have been, however, Eden isn’t alone. Opium, heroin, codeine and morphine all come from opium poppies. It doesn't take much to test positive for drugs after eating a poppy seed bagel. In fact, studies have shown that just a teaspoon of poppy seeds can cause your levels to be 1,200 nanograms per millimeter. The following year, the same county paid out $160,000 after a woman who ate poppy seeds in a pasta salad and failed a drug test lost her newborn for 75 days. What should you do if you need to take a drug test?
– Elaine Benes could get behind this: A new mom is asking a Maryland hospital to revamp its approach to drug tests for expectant moms after her poppy seed bagel breakfast resulted in a false positive for opiates. "It was traumatizing," Elizabeth Eden tells WBAL of the saga that began when her doctor alerted her to the result of her drug test while she was in labor. Eden had previously heard that poppy seeds, which come from the opium poppy plant, could cause misleading results. "I said, 'Well, can you test me again? And I ate a poppy seed bagel this morning for breakfast,' and she said, 'No, you've been reported to the state.'" That meant Eden's daughter, born April 4, was held at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson for five days and a case worker had to visit her home. Increased awareness about false positives means hospitals generally look for opiate levels beyond 2,000 nanograms per millimeter. Eating one teaspoon of poppy seeds can result in levels of 1,200 nanogram per millimeter, but St. Joseph Medical Center considers a positive test to be above 300 nanograms per millimeter, per Time. The hospital's head of obstetrics says raising the limit would let actual drug users slip through undetected. But, citing a letter in which Eden advises the hospital educate expectant moms about the risks, the doctor adds, "it's a really good point that people probably should know that if you use poppy seeds before you have a toxicology screen that it could result in a false positive test." (This mom sued over her poppy seed debacle.)