Study: Growing Number of Babies Born Addicted to Painkillers

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

As many as one baby per hour is born already addicted to opiate painkillers, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  CNN.com reports:

By 2009 there were more than 13,000 babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, a withdrawal syndrome that occurs in some babies after being exposed to a class of painkillers, called opiates, while in utero, according to the study published Monday.

“That’s about one baby per hour,” said Dr. Stephen Patrick, lead author of the study, which was published online in the Journal of American Medical Association. “We were surprised by it. That’s a startling increase.”

Perhaps more startling – that one baby per hour figure marks about a three-fold increase in the number of babies born with NAS since 2000; and during the same time period, opiate use among expectant mothers was also jumping, increasing nearly five-fold.

“There has been an incredible increase in the number of opiate pain relievers prescribed in the U.S.,” said Patrick, a fellow in the University of Michigan’s Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. ”We think that might be part of the increase we are seeing.”

Image: Pregnant belly, via Shutterstock.

Trend: More Babies Born Addicted to Prescription Painkillers

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

CNN.com is reporting on new findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a growing number of babies born addicted to prescription medications because their mothers took the drugs during pregnancy.

The CDC study focused on Florida, where 635 addicted babies were born in the first half of 2010 alone.  The trend is a change from the longstanding problem of babies born addicted to crack cocaine.

“We saw the number of crack babies that died, and this is just another version of that,” Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti told CNN. “We all need to be concerned.”

Medical professionals say that prescription painkiller addiction can have similar effects on babies as cocaine and other illegal drugs.

“They go through withdrawal symptoms,” said Mary Osuch, the head nurse at Broward General Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit. “They’re crampy, miserable. They sweat. They can have rapid breathing. Sometimes, they can even have seizures.”