Almost half a billion dollars spent by Medicaid in 2014 on drug addicted infants

[MillCreek]

https://www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/generalpediatrics/71978

Neonatal abstinence syndrome is when a newborn goes through withdrawal caused by the mom using opiates during the pregnancy.  The kids generally need a stay in the neonatal ICU which costs tens of thousands of dollars per day.

Your tax dollars at work.

[T.O.M.]

A lot of those cases come through my court, with Children Services seeking custody.  Given some of the records I've seen as evidence, those numbers don't surprise me.  Depress and frighten, yes.  But not surprise.


(fixed a typo)

[Hawkmoon]

Long term, how does the impact compare with fetal alcohol syndrome?

[T.O.M.]

Long term, how does the impact compare with fetal alcohol syndrome?

From what I have seen, it is a real crap shoot.  I've seen delays in terms of fine motor control, and some cognitive delays.  Then again, we've also seen children show no indications of any developmental delays or neurological damage.  Granted, I only see a case a relatively short period of time, between 1-3 years.  Some of the docs and shrinks I drink with occasionally are worried about long term issues, especially in terms of mental health, such as chemical imbalances or neuroreceptors which are insensitive to normal brain chemistry because of damage done by the prenatal exposure.