Sunday, March 25, 2012
One way to lower healthcare costs
In Florida all it would take is to shut down the pill mills. One of the first places to see the true cost of these pharmaceutical gold mines (for the owners) is in the neo-natal ward.
On any given day, more than one-third of the babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Manatee Memorial Hospital have been exposed to drugs.Drug withdrawal is no way to start life.
Their mothers have passed the curse of substance abuse to their newborns.
In their cribs, the infants suffer from withdrawal.
They shake with jitters, they cry inconsolably. They fight skin rashes, vomiting and diarrhea.The number of newborns in Manatee County hospitals experiencing drug withdrawal as a result of their mothers' substance abuse rose from 2 to 27 during the years 2007-2010, an increase of 1,250 percent, according to the Manatee County Substance Abuse Coalition.
Nearby, other Tampa Bay area hospitals are seeing similar trends: From 2009-2011, the number of babies born at Tampa General Hospital who were exposed to opiates and/or Methadone skyrocketed from 12 per year to 64.Those who provide medical care to babies blame prescription drug abuse.
The Manatee County Commission on Tuesday will consider a strict new ordinance designed to shut down bogus pain management clinics called "pill mills" that are really just businesses that sell highly-addictive prescription medication for profit.
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