Prescription drugs lead to growing problem of infant addiction
The rise of prescription drug addiction has resulted in more babies born addicted to narcotics compared to just two decades ago, when infant addiction was associated more with street-level drugs.
A 2012 study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association found newborns addicted to painkillers tripled in just 10 years. The study indicated 3.4 out of every 1,000 babies born suffered from withdrawals associated with narcotic pain medications. From 2000 to 2010 there was a fivefold increase in the number of pregnant women who used or abused opiates, with these mothers accounting for 5.6 out of 1,000 hospital births annually, according to the study.
“That boils down to every hour a baby born in the United States is born with the signs and symptoms of opiate withdrawal, or roughly 13,539 babies per year,” said Jonathan Phillips, University Health Conway’s assistant director of nursing.
Neonatal abstinence syndrome can occur in infants whose mothers use and abuse narcotics during pregnancy. Depending on the type of drug, how often and when the drug was used, symptoms can range from excessive crying, poor feeding, irritability, seizures, trembling and vomiting.
http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20140125/NEWS01/301210048/Prescription-drugs-lead-growing-problem-infant-addiction
= new reply since forum marked as read
