An article appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association on April 30, 2012 by Dr. Stephen W. Patrick et al reports that between 2000 and 2009 the number of newborns in the United States diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome nearly tripled. Neonatal abstinence syndrome or NAS is a drug withdrawal syndrome in newborns primarily caused by maternal opiate use. This study also found that maternal opiate use increased nearly 5-fold, a trend that mirrors the general increase in opiate use, both legal and illegal, across the country.
Infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome exhibit symptoms such as irritability, seizures, respiratory distress and feeding difficulties. Other adverse effects for infants of mothers who used opiates during pregnancy include low birth weight and increased mortality. Infants with NAS may need prolonged care, often in an intensive care unit and some require treatment with methadone to wean them from the effects of the opiates used by their mothers during pregnancy. The increased cost to an already overburdened health care system is shouldered by Medicaid programs in nearly 80% of the cases.
To learn more about neonatal abstinence syndrome see the original article by Dr. Stephen W. Patrick et al titled Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and Associated Healthcare Expenditures.