Florida Task Force Attempting to Lower Amount of Drug Dependent Babies
Within the last decade in the states, we have witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of infants born hooked on drugs. Instances of infants suffering from drug withdrawal have increased over 300% within the last decade. This situation is due largely as a result of the growing epidemic of people becoming addicted to opioid drugs such as oxycodone and vicodin. This week in Florida, a task force was first appointed to enact innovative policies to minimize the amount of children being born with drug addictions. Thesebabies have a sickness known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) and in 2011 there was over 1,500 instances documented in Fl alone, and that number is likely on the lower side experts say.
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
Hospitals throughout the country have been dealing with the large increase in infants being born addicted to opiate based pain medication, but many hospital wards are unprepared to treat these infants. The indications of NAS tend to be sleep problems, muscle tightening, uncontrollable crying, vomiting and may also cause death. These babies need continuous attention inside an intensive care unit and treatment usually takes a few weeks having an average expense of around fifty thousand dollars per child. Addicted babies tend to be expensive to treat and most usually develop disabilities when they develop. The number of infants being born with NAS keeps growing quickly and it is likely to continue to rise. It’s currently up to task forces like the one chosen in Florida to figure out ways to stop expectant moms from using harmful drugs and encourage them to find the help they need in order to shield their children.
Florida Task Force’s Plan to Minimize The Amount of Babies Born With NAS
The Tallahassee, fl task force, directed by Attorney General Pam Bondi and composed of 14 state officials, doctors, and political leaders will work to employ a number of recommendations to lessen the number of children being born hooked on drugs. Recently they endorsed a recommendation which will provide immunity to pregnant women who seek drug and alcohol abuse treatment and rehabilitation. One more recommendation is to have pregnant women volunteer for a drug screening as well as making more resources offered to mothers-to-be that outline the dangers of abusing drugs during pregnancy. By instructing obstetricians to ask all their patients a number of questions to determine whether substance abuse may be present, the Florida task force hopes to limit the number of infants being born having an addiction to harmful drugs.
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome is quickly becoming a substantial issue in the U . S . and needs to be addressed now. By deploying a significantly more stringent screening process for expecting mothers to figure out if they have a alcohol and drug abuse issue, the task force in Florida hopes to stop babies being born and suffering from drug withdrawal. Florida will begin to carry out these new procedures this month and meet again in September to report on the optimistic changes in neonatal care.