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."
