“To deal with an explosion in the number of Kentucky newborns exposed to dangerous, addictive drugs by their pregnant mothers, lawmakers this year added a section to House Bill 1, a measure that otherwise streamlines the foster care system.
The section — which becomes law in July, along with the rest of HB 1 — expands the definition of child abuse in Kentucky to include neonatal abstinence syndrome.
The number of Kentucky babies born dependent on drugs has climbed from 46 in 2001 to 1,115 in 2016, according to hospital discharge data collected annually by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The opioid crisis has made the problem far worse in recent years as addiction to prescription painkillers and heroin has swept the state.”
Read more at: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article210402579.html
Source: Kentucky.com – May 4, 2018
See related article on NAS: Born addicted: How the opioid crisis is affecting Louisiana’s newborns and pregnant women can get treatment available at: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_a157bb42-4d9a-11e8-b271-03082af75e27.html
