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Over the past decade in the states, there has been a substantial surge in the number of infants born addicted to harmful drugs. Instances of newborns being affected by drug withdrawal have increased over 300% during the last decade. This is due in large part as a result of the growing crisis of people becoming hooked on opioid prescription drugs such as oxycodone and vicodin. Yesterday in Fl, a task force was assigned to enact brand new policies to reduce the amount of infants being born with drug addictions. Thesenew borns have a sickness known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) and in 2011 there were greater than 1,500 cases reported in Fl alone, and that quantity is likely on the lower side experts say.

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Hospitals across the country have already been addressing the massive surge in infants being born hooked on opiate based pain medication, however, many hospitals are actually unprepared to treat these new borns. The indications of NAS are generally sleeplessness, muscle tightening, uncontrollable crying, throwing up and sometimes even result in death. These new borns need continuous attention in an intensive care unit and treatment can take a few weeks having an average cost of more than fifty thousand dollars per child. Addicted newborns are both costly to treat and many usually develop disabilities as they develop. The number of infants being born with NAS keeps growing rapidly and it is anticipated to continue to increase. It is currently up to task forces like the one chosen in Florida to figure out ways to stop pregnant mothers from abusing drugs and help them to get the support they need as a way to protect their babies.

Fl Task Force’s Plan to Limit The Amount of Babies Born With NAS

The Florida task force, guided by Attorney General Pam Bondi and composed of 14 state administrators, physicians, and political leaders will work to implement several recommendations to lessen the number of infants being born hooked on drugs. Recently they endorsed a recommendation that will give immunity to expectant mothers seeking drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation. One more recommendation is to have women that are pregnant volunteer to get a drug screening in addition to making additional materials offered to expectant mothers that detail the risks of drug abuse during pregnancy. By training doctors to ask all their patients a series of questions to determine whether drug use may be present, the Florida task force hopes to limit the number of babies being born with an addiction to harmful drugs.

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome is quickly becoming a substantial problem in the United States and needs to be handled now. By deploying a significantly more stringent screening process for expecting mothers to determine if they have a alcohol and drug abuse problem, the task force in Florida hopes to stop babies being born and experiencing drug withdrawal. Florida will start to implement these new procedures this month and get together again in September to report on the optimistic improvements in neonatal care.