Medication taken by a woman to manage anxiety during pregnancy is believed to have caused her newborn baby to test positive for benzodiazepines (benzo), police said.
Kelantan Police Chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said a urine screening found the woman positive for benzo, a type of sedative medication, rather than illicit drugs such as methamphetamine.
He said the woman explained that she had been taking medication to manage anxiety while she was pregnant.
“The effects of the medication caused her urine screening to return positive for benzo, and not drugs such as methamphetamine.
“For now, the woman has been detained based on the urine screening results. We are also conducting a second round of tests on the baby, who was reported to have tested positive for two types of drugs,” he said.
Mohd Yusoff was speaking at a press conference following a welfare programme organised by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) together with the Ipoh Super Biker’s Club (ISBC) in conjunction with the 219th Police Day and the 69th Merdeka Eve celebrations at the Kelantan Police Contingent Headquarters today.
He said the investigation was currently based on the woman’s initial urine screening results while authorities await the findings of the second round of tests on the baby.
The case comes after the Kelantan State Health Department was previously reported to be monitoring the condition of a newborn who tested positive for drugs after birth, including the baby’s health progress while receiving treatment.
Authorities are expected to determine the circumstances surrounding the baby’s test results once the additional laboratory findings are available.
