![]() ![]() It directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to identify and make available recommendations for preventing and treating prenatal opioid use disorders, and diagnosing and treating NAS specifically. This absence was recognized at the federal level in November, when President Obama signed the Protecting Our Infants Act. Yet strong evidence-based guidelines for drug screening and referrals in this population are wanting. “If samples arrive in our lab by 10:30 in the morning, we can get out reports by the end of the day.”Įlsewhere around the nation, drug toxicology screening programs for pregnant women and newborns continue to expand. Cincinnati Children’s mass spectrometry laboratory tests for 47 drugs of abuse in urine in a 6-minute analysis, he explained. ![]() Opioid-exposed newborns may need longer stays in the hospital, especially if they are suffering from withdrawal and need pharmacologic care.Ĭincinnati hospitals use urine immunoassays for initial screening, followed by mass spectrometry to validate results, according to Wexelblatt. When possible, pregnant women identified with substance abuse problems are referred to addiction services. If mothers do not consent, their babies are tested instead. In Cincinnati’s universal screening program, participating hospitals encourage mothers to consent to testing. Adverse long-term outcomes are less well studied, but neonatologists fear that kids in homes with substance abuse might suffer from child abuse, experience growth problems, and miss normal childhood milestones. Babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) often are irritable, feed poorly, and have diarrhea and seizures. ![]() “Among newborns exposed to opioids in utero, between 55 percent and 94 percent develop withdrawal signs-and 30 to 80 percent of those need pharmacologic treatment.”Įarly diagnosis and treatment achieves the best outcomes. “Opioids are what we worry about most,” he explained. Others are watching it closely as they grapple with an exponential rise in both illicit and prescription drug abuse and a lack of clear guidelines for testing.Ī study Wexelblatt led between 20 found 5.4% of all mothers had a positive drug test on admission and 3.2% of the mothers tested positive for opioids. Launched in September 2013, the program, which involves dual screening of mothers and their newborns, has been embraced by the Greater Cincinnati Health Council and has become one of the most visible of such programs in the United States. A dramatic increase in heroin and painkiller use in the Cincinnati, Ohio area worried Scott Wexelblatt, MD, a neonatologist at Cincinnati Children’s Perinatal Institute, leading him to spearhead a regional universal drug screening program for moms delivering at Cincinnati-area hospitals. ![]()
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