Babies born addicted to opioids has TRIPLED in 15 years as America’s heroin and painkiller crisis escalates

August 12, 2016

Now 6 babies per 1,000 births addicted to opioids, up from 1.5 in 1999
Biggest increases were seen in West Virginia, Vermont and Maine
The figures comes just a month after Obama announced new law to fund withdrawal programs for newborns amid escalating addiction crisis

Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com

Published:
17:31 EST, 12 August 2016

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Updated:
17:31 EST, 12 August 2016

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The number of babies born addicted to drugs tripled in just 15 years, US government data reveals.

In 1999, an average of 1.5 babies per 1,000 hospital births had to be immediately placed on a withdrawal program.

As of 2013, that figure had rocketed to six per 1,000 births, according to a new CDC report.

The staggering data offer a glimpse into the devastating scale of America’s opioid addiction crisis.

Addicts per 1,000 births. Insufficient data for Arkansas, New Mexico, Mississippi, and South Dakota. Data only extends to 2012 in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maryland

The most astonishing increase was seen in West Virginia. In 1999 there were 0.5 cases of addiction per 1,000 births. In 2013, that figure shot up to 33.4.

Vermont and Maine saw similar spikes.

Seventy-eight Americans die from opioid overdose every day, according to data held by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It has been spurred by rocketing numbers of people taking prescription painkillers.

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Last month, President Barack Obama signed into law a measure that pledges greater efforts to protect drug-dependent newborns and assist their parents.

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act also stresses drug treatment and overdose prevention.

Obama said in a statement that the legislation included only modest steps to address the epidemic.

‘I am deeply disappointed that Republicans failed to provide any real resources for those seeking addiction treatment to get the care that they need,’ Obama said.

‘In fact, they blocked efforts by Democrats to include $920 million in treatment funding.’

The bill was passed nearly unanimously by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Sharon Daley, MD Pediatric Hospitalist holds a baby being treated for symptoms of withdrawal as she poses for a portrait at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts

The new law requires that the federal government and every state follow a 2003 law that was routinely ignored.

That law called on states to require hospitals and social services to report, track and assist drug-dependent newborns and their families.

A Reuters investigation last year found that no more than nine states were following that requirement.

Most children born to addicted mothers, including many mothers who were taking prescribed methadone, were not being reported by hospitals as required by law.

Often, that was because medical workers feared involving child protective services, as the existing law requires.

When cases were reported to social services, Reuters found, efforts to protect the child and help the parents often were limited.

The failures came at a cost.

More than 110 babies since 2010 died under preventable circumstances after being sent home to families ill-equipped to care for them.

Experts said far more children have likely died but gone uncounted.

The new law promises a non-punitive approach that includes ‘safe care plans’ aimed at keeping newborns at home with their parents, who will receive additional help.