Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The opioid epidemic continues to plague Indianapolis and the rest of the state. With the rise in opioid misuse, there has been a parallel surge in pregnant women with opioid use disorder. Infants born to opioid-dependent mothers are at a high risk for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. NAS, which results from babies experiencing withdrawal from opioids once they leave the womb, leads to dehydration and poor weight gain, vomiting, tremors, irritability, high-pitched crying and seizures. With the rise of opioid epidemic, the incidence of NAS nationwide tripled from 1999 to 2013. NAS is becoming so common […]

With so many COVID-19 related challenges before us, we cannot lose sight of the people in our lives and in our communities struggling with addiction. The opioid crisis, and substance use disorder more broadly, need our attention now more than ever.