Ep. 1: Motherisk

The Motherisk Lab based out of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, claimed to be able to determine through a simple hair test if a parent was abusing drugs or alcohol.

Test results were used in thousands of child protection cases, often leading to families being ripped apart, and children put up for adoption. But the tests were flawed, and the people who ran the lab had no training in forensic evidence.

Toronto Star reporter Rachel Mendleson was at the forefront in the reporting on the failures of the Motherisk Lab, and details the history of how this lab came to wield so much power, and how it would all come crashing down with the help of determined lawyers, and parents.

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