NAS and Opioid Policy in the News

"50–70% of mothers who take opioids during pregnancy will give birth to a baby with NAS." In 2010, East Tennessee Children's Hospital put its NAS treatment process in place. Each NAS baby gets evaluated using the Finnegan Scale, a scoring system of 20 symptoms that helps the clinical staff determine the proper treatment for weaning the child off of drugs. If the symptoms are severe, the babies may be treated with small amounts of morphine, chosen because it leaves the system relatively quickly.

The number of American babies born going through withdrawal from prescription painkillers and heroin used by their mothers during pregnancy, a condition called Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, increased fivefold between 2000 and 2012. NewsHour's Alison Stewart explores the consequences of the condition on mothers and infants. Read more here:http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/detoxing-after-delivery-when-babies-are-born-withdrawing-from-opioids/

The risk for overdose from opioid painkillers and heroin among women, including pregnant women, has skyrocketed, which means a growing number of babies are born dependent on opioids. NewsHour Weekend Special correspondent Alison Stewart reports on the challenges for pregnant women struggling with addiction. Read more here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/the-opioid-epidemics-toll-on-pregnant-women-and-their-babies/

"The number of babies born physically dependent on drugs is on the rise in Florida and around the nation.  The condition, called neonatal abstinence syndrome occurs in newborns who were exposed to addictive opiate drugs like heroin, methadone and oxycodone in utero.  According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the number of babies born with NAS increased five-fold from 2000 to 2012."

"The number of NAS cases is skyrocketing across the country, and some states like Tennessee have seen a 10-fold increase since 1999. Kentucky similarly reports a 11-fold increase in NAS cases between 2001 and 2011. This condition is a consequence of the nationwide opioid crisis that has been attracting so much recent attention from policymakers."

In the United States, one infant is born each hour with drug withdrawal, known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), after being exposed to opioid medications like oxycodone in utero. Read more here: http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2014/07/care-for-newborns-with-drug-withdrawal-uneven/

A study by a team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center shows that pregnant women are commonly being prescribed opioids — narcotic pain relievers such as hydrocodone — which results in an increased likelihood of NAS. Read more here: http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2015/04/vanderbilt-study-finds-babies-exposed-to-narcotic-pain-relievers-more-likely-to-experience-drug-withdrawal-syndrome/

The study published by the NEJM, titled “Increasing Incidence of the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome in U.S. Neonatal ICUs,” directly addresses this topic, relying on data from MEDNAX’s Clinical Data Warehouse, and found that NAS is responsible for a substantial and growing portion of resources dedicated to critically ill neonates in NICUs nationwide.

The number of infants born in the United States with drug withdrawal symptoms, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), nearly doubled in a four-year period. By 2012, one infant was born every 25 minutes with the syndrome, accounting for $1.5 billion in annual health care charges, according to a new Vanderbilt study published in the Journal of Perinatology. Read more here: http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2015/04/babies-born-with-drug-withdrawal-symptoms-on-rise/

Infants diagnosed with drug withdrawal symptoms at birth, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), are nearly 2.5 times as likely to be readmitted to the hospital in the first month after being discharged compared with full-term infants born without complications, according to new Vanderbilt research released in the journal Hospital Pediatrics.