“Why did I ever order those tests?” This is the question that Dr. Sharon Ostfeld-Johns of Yale Medical School now asks herself of every drug test she ever ordered for newborns with mothers who were heavy users.

The pediatrician is one of a growing cadre of doctors who think that at risk babies should not be screened for drug exposure because positive tests lead to interactions with child welfare services and exacerbate what they see as racial bias in the system.