South Dakota sued for using catheter in toddler drug screen

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The American Civil Liberties Union sued South Dakota on Thursday over the forced use of a catheter to take a urine sample from a 3-year-old boy who was being tested for exposure to drugs as part of a child-neglect investigation.

The ACLU filed a pair of federal lawsuits challenging the practice, saying it violated the constitutional rights of the boy and five adults who underwent the same procedure in separate cases.

"Subjecting anyone to forcible catheterization, especially a toddler, to collect evidence when there are less intrusive means available is unconscionable," said Heather Smith, executive director of the ACLU of South Dakota.

The boy's mother said she was coerced into giving consent for the procedure, which Smith called "painful, physically and emotionally damaging, and deeply degrading."

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the toddler said he was catheterized after his mother's boyfriend violated probation by testing positive for illegal drugs. The complaint alleges the procedure caused the child to develop a staph infection in his penis.

A state Department of Social Services caseworker told the mother her children would be taken away if she did not submit them to drug tests, according to the lawsuit, which names the department, several agency officials, Avera St. Mary's Hospital and others as defendants.