Health News
The Courier-Journal's health reporter, Laura Ungar, is again delving into the prescription pain-pill epidemic in Kentucky, this time focusing on babies who are born addicted. For any reporter interested in writing stories about prescription pill addiction and the scope of the problem ? stories that could be localized in every county in the state ? Ungar's award-winning work is the place to start researching.
In a four-page piece, Ungar looks at:
? the limited options available to addicted moms
? the lack of funding available to fix the problem
? what to do for loved ones with a prescription drug problem
? the causes, symptoms and treatment for newborn addicts
There are also links to more recent stories pertaining to the issue here.
Ungar found hospitalizations for addicted newborns increased from 29 in 2000 to 730 last year, when there was a big jump. "It's a silent epidemic that's going on out there," said Audrey Tayse Haynes, secretary of the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services. "You need to say: 'Stop the madness. This is too much.'"
Nurse Tonya Anderson, an infant development/touch therapist at Kosair Children's Hospital, said she's seen as many as 14 of 26 babies in the special-care nursery where she works suffer from symptoms of withdrawal. "They are just agitated," she said. "They are screaming. They have tremors. Their faces ? you have to grimace. They're in pain."
Those close to the problem say there is not enough treatment for addicts who are pregnant. But it's an investment worth making, Ungar suggests. One study showed the health-care costs for addicted newborns was $720 million in 2009, up from $190 million in 2000. Babies with addictions stay about 16.4 days in the hospital, which costs an average of $53,300 per infant. In 80 percent of those cases, Medicaid pays the bill.
Researchers estimate that more than 13,5000 babies were born addicted in 2009. "We knew that it was common, but we would not expect this problem would have tripled in the last decade," said Dr. Matthew Davis, an associate professor at the University of Michigan and one of the study's authors. "There are not many medical problems that have tripled in a decade ? not obesity, not heart disease, not diabetes." (Read more)
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Mother Samantha Adams and her newborn Leopoldo Bautista, 10 days old, spend quality time inside the Louisville Norton Healthcare child care center for children experiencing drug withdrawal. (Photo by Alton Strupp, The Courier-Journal)Increasing drug...
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Health News
Comprehensive series looks at new angle of prescription pain pill epidemic: addicted newborns
The Courier-Journal's health reporter, Laura Ungar, is again delving into the prescription pain-pill epidemic in Kentucky, this time focusing on babies who are born addicted. For any reporter interested in writing stories about prescription pill addiction and the scope of the problem ? stories that could be localized in every county in the state ? Ungar's award-winning work is the place to start researching.
In a four-page piece, Ungar looks at:
? the limited options available to addicted moms
? the lack of funding available to fix the problem
? what to do for loved ones with a prescription drug problem
? the causes, symptoms and treatment for newborn addicts
There are also links to more recent stories pertaining to the issue here.
Ungar found hospitalizations for addicted newborns increased from 29 in 2000 to 730 last year, when there was a big jump. "It's a silent epidemic that's going on out there," said Audrey Tayse Haynes, secretary of the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services. "You need to say: 'Stop the madness. This is too much.'"
Nurse Tonya Anderson, an infant development/touch therapist at Kosair Children's Hospital, said she's seen as many as 14 of 26 babies in the special-care nursery where she works suffer from symptoms of withdrawal. "They are just agitated," she said. "They are screaming. They have tremors. Their faces ? you have to grimace. They're in pain."
Those close to the problem say there is not enough treatment for addicts who are pregnant. But it's an investment worth making, Ungar suggests. One study showed the health-care costs for addicted newborns was $720 million in 2009, up from $190 million in 2000. Babies with addictions stay about 16.4 days in the hospital, which costs an average of $53,300 per infant. In 80 percent of those cases, Medicaid pays the bill.
Researchers estimate that more than 13,5000 babies were born addicted in 2009. "We knew that it was common, but we would not expect this problem would have tripled in the last decade," said Dr. Matthew Davis, an associate professor at the University of Michigan and one of the study's authors. "There are not many medical problems that have tripled in a decade ? not obesity, not heart disease, not diabetes." (Read more)
- Lawmakers And Health Officials Meet To Discuss Increased Use Of Heroin During Pregnancy And Thus, More Addicted Babies
Health officials and lawmakers met at the University of Kentucky Hospital Aug. 10 to discuss the increasing use of heroin among pregnant women and how this has caused a huge increase in the number of babies being born addicted to the drug. "The number...
- Half Again As Many Kentucky Newborns Were Hospitalized For Drug Dependency Last Year As The Year Before
Mother Samantha Adams and her newborn Leopoldo Bautista, 10 days old, spend quality time inside the Louisville Norton Healthcare child care center for children experiencing drug withdrawal. (Photo by Alton Strupp, The Courier-Journal)Increasing drug...
- Kentucky Will Soon Require Simple Screening At Birth To Detect Silent Killers Of Newborns
A new state law taking effect in January will require all babies born in Kentucky to be screened for critical congenital heart disease, which is often a silent killer of newborns who appear to be healthy and who are discharged from the hospital with the...
- Beshear Calls For Action To Improve State's Health, But Says Only That 'it's Time For Us To Begin Looking Seriously' At A Smoking Ban
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News His priorities were education and tax reform, but Gov. Steve Beshear mentioned several health issues in his State of the Commonwealth speech tonight to a joint session of the General Assembly. Beshear called for action...
- Managed-care Doctor Creates Process To Steer Pregnant Medicaid Recipients Who Are Using Dangerous Drugs Into Treatment
When Dr. Jeremy Corbett of Lexington found that "nearly one in five pregnant women enrolled in the Medicaid managed-care program where he works were using narcotics or other harmful drugs," he tackled the problem. As medical director of the...