Katherine Clark: “I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. Our Nation is experiencing a deadly opiate epidemic, an epidemic that…”

“I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. Our Nation is experiencing a deadly opiate epidemic, an epidemic that knows no boundaries and destroys lives, families, and communities. Today 58 babies--one baby every 25 minutes--will be born suffering from the same pain adults describe as the worst pain of their lives. It is the pain of drug withdrawal. Neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS for short, occurs when babies are born dependent on opioids, and it is one of the chief causes of the significant surge of newborns in neonatal intensive care units across the Nation. Over the last decade, the number of infants born dependent on powerful drugs has grown nearly fivefold. In States like Massachusetts, NAS is occurring at a rate three times the national average. NAS births are five times more costly than healthy ones. Costs have risen to more than $1.5 billion a year, 80 percent of which are paid for by Medicaid. Because of this skyrocketing rise of NAS cases and costs, doctors are desperately trying to find the most effective method of diagnosis and treatment. {time} 1630 There is little coordination of data and best practices and protocols among States, healthcare systems, and practitioners; and no medications have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating these babies. The Protecting Our Infants Act is the first Federal bill to take proactive steps in addressing the rise of NAS.…”