04.06.2012
Every hour a baby with symptoms of opioid withdrawal is born in USA, concludes recent study conducted by Dr. Stephen Patrick and his team.
“Neonatal abstinence syndrome (or withdrawal syndrome) usually happens after newborns have been exposed to opiates during the pregnancy,» says Dr. Patrick.
Opiates are group of drugs which includes painkillers, for example, vicodin, morphine, and semisynthetic derivatives, such as heroin. According to statistics, 5.500 people a day use pain relievers for nonmedical purposes in USA. The problem is compounded by the fact that nearly 20 percent of this number are pregnant women.
Newborns are usually irritable, suffer from high blood pressure, digestive problems and shortness of breath. Currently, treatment of these children is not well developed, and therefore infants must endure the pain. Also, according to Dr. Mary Hayes, a professor at the University of Maine, these children may suffer from long-term effects connected to brain development.
“I think that this should get the attention of federal and state government policy-makers to think about ways that we can control our opiates maybe in a more optimal way, "- said Dr. Patrick.
Currently, 36 states in the U.S use Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). The program uses an electronic database of all prescriptions, allows identifying abuse cases, and also gives physicians the opportunity to see the history of all prescriptions given to a particular person.
Effectiveness of such programs is questionable, since the number of opiate-dependent and the number of deaths from overdose is only growing.
