Virtua Health’s policy of universally drug testing pregnant patients violates the state’s antidiscrimination law, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in a lawsuit filed Thursday, claiming the nonprofit health system’s policy unfairly catapults families into a child-welfare investigation that can separate newborns from their parents.

"[W]hen pregnant patients receive a positive test result, Virtua will automatically report them to the Division of Child Protection and Permanency for possible child abuse or neglect—even when the positive test occurs only because the patient ate a poppy seed bagel,

Platkin, accuses Virtua branches of regularly administrating universal drug tests on pregnant patients "without obtaining informed consent." This suit was launched specifically against Virtua Health,

New Jersey’s attorney general has filed a complaint against Virtua Health, accusing the health system of performing drug tests on pregnant patients without their consent, a violation of their civil rights.

A South Jersey healthcare system was accused of discriminating against pregnant patients with a mandatory drug testing policy, authorities said. Attorney General Matthew Platkin has filed a lawsuit against Virtua Health,