Heroin Epidemic Leads To Quadrupling Of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Rate In Less Than A Decade

On its front page, the Washington Post (8/13, A1, Bernstein) reports that one of the “most heartbreaking developments” in the nation’s “heroin epidemic” has been a “sharp rise” in the number of newborns exposed to heroin, leading to a quadrupling of the rate of neonatal abstinence syndrome over the past nine years, up to 2.7 percent of all NICU admissions. In addition, the cost to care for these children “has also soared” to $53,000 on average in 2009.

Related Links:

— “When life begins in rehab: A baby heals after a mother’s heroin addiction,” Lenny Bernstein, Washington Post, August 12, 2015.

Posted in In The News.