Painkiller Addiction Surges Among Newborn Babies In 10 Years

Painkiller Addiction Cases Among Neonates Rise

Painkiller addiction among babies born to prescription painkiller-addicted mothers has significantly increased over the past ten years.

A new U.S. study found that the number of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a type of drug withdrawal commonly seen in the babies of pregnant women who abuse narcotic pain medications, has nearly tripled in the last decade. From a little more than 1 per 1,000 babies in 2000, the number of newborns with the condition has increased to more than 3 per 1,000 in 2009. The number represents about 13,539 infants a year or one drug-addicted baby born every hour, researchers said.

According to the level of baby’s dependency, NAS is characterized by the following manifestations: low birth weight, irritability, muscle cramping, tremors, feeding problems, vomiting and watery stools and even seizures and breathing problems in more severe cases. 

Doctors say the babies are not really addicted - which connotes drug-seeking behavior that newborns are not capable of - but their bodies are dependent on opiates because of their mothers' use during pregnancy. In many cases doctors must administer doses of morphine or other narcotics to the babies to wean them off of drugs gradually. The babies stay in the hospitals for treatment for 16 days, driving up health care costs, especially for state Medicaid programs.

The researchers of the study also found that the number of new mothers who tested positive for use of opiates increased five-fold between 2000 and 2009. In the most recent study year, between five and six out of every 1,000 women had the drugs in their system.

The study was released online Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with a presentation at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting in Boston.