Abuse of heroin and other opioids by pregnant women is skyrocketing and taxpayers are paying the bills through Medicaid.
Such abuse can cause drug withdrawal in newborns, which can lead to breathing and feeding difficulties, vomiting, diarrhea and seizures. Most of the cases aren’t fatal, but they are increasingly costly, according to a Government Accountability Office report made public Tuesday.
“More than three-quarters of the cases identified are paid for by Medicaid,” said GAO director Vijay D’Souza. “Finding the best treatment will be cost effective and will improve the quality of life for these individuals,” D’Souza said.
However, despite the government’s efforts, two factors boost the costs of treatment.
First, babies suffering in opioid withdrawal typically results in hospitals stays more than five times longer and more expensive than other newborns. Second, the rate of these cases is skyrocketing, tripling from 2000 to 2009.
More than one-fifth of pregnant Medicaid beneficiaries filled a prescription for opioids during their pregnancy. That includes, however, patients with legitimate needs for the medicine, which, if taken properly, is safe for unborn infants. It doesn’t account for pregnant women who continued to abuse unprescribed opioids.
The problem has grown so rapidly that federal officials identified addicted mothers and their addicted infants as emerging critical issues in 2013 and 2014.
To reverse the trend, the government spent nearly $21.6 million in research on potential treatment improvements from 2008 to 2014, but without result.
“Research is needed on how best to treat a pregnant woman with an opioid-use disorder so that the treatment is most effective for the woman while offering minimal risk to the fetus,” the congressional watchdog agency said.
Often, treatment for an expecting mother involves the use of weaker opioids, such as methadone, which would also cause withdrawal in infants. The baby would also experience stress if the mother went through withdrawal during pregnancy.
“Agency officials and experts told us that as a result of these research gaps, providers often do not know how best to treat patients, which in turn leads to variation in the length and quality of treatment,” the report said.
The main reasons for these research gaps are due to a difficulty conducting research and inadequate funding.
Also, because pregnant women are often afraid to tell their doctors of their abuse, and many providers are undereducated in identifying addiction, expecting mothers too often go untreated, causing more extensive treatment for the baby once it’s born.
Go here to read the full report.
