Healthy Living: Born Addicted to Painkillers - Northern Michigan's News Leader

Prescription drug abuse is the nation's fastest-growing drug problem. With more than 7 million people abusing them, and death rates tripling from their abuse in the last decade. But it's not just adults we need to be concerned with. As Robyn Haines reports, the 80's epidemic of crack babies is being replaced by something even easier to get your hands on.

Molly is among a growing number of mothers addicted to prescription pain killers like oxycodone, oxycontin and vicodin, and now their babies are born addicted. Known as neonatal abstinence syndrome, there are no national statistics to show how widespread the problem is but states with the worst problems have begun to collect data.

Doctor Jonathan Wispe has seen a 300-percent rise in his cases since 2004. Neonatal Nurse Michelle Waddell has a similar story at her hospital, where she's seen a 700-percent increase in NAS babies in the last five years. NAS babies experience withdrawal a few days after being born, just like an adult would who quits drugs cold-turkey.

The baby can also have seizures and risks sudden death. Compounding the problem, pregnant women addicted to prescription meds can't safely go off of them without medical supervision or they could miscarry. Doctors say the treatment for drug withdrawal in newborns can take a couple of days to a few weeks driving the cost of their medical care into the tens of thousands of dollars.