Pam Bondi-Backed Task Force to Tackle Drug Abuse and Newborns

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi issued the following release upon the unanimous passage of House Bill 227, sponsored by Rep. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, which will establish a Statewide Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and Newborns.

I applaud the House of Representatives for unanimously passing a bill that will enable our state to take the first step in protecting infants from the devastating effects of prescription drug abuse by expectant mothers, Bondi stated in the release.

This statewide task force will enable us to better understand the scope of the problem, effective treatment for babies, and prevention strategies for expectant mothers."

The Senate companion bill, SB 402, by Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, has received the full backing of the Health Regulation Committee and Budget Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justices Appropriations.

The statewide task force, to be comprised of 10 members with Bondi as chair, would examine the emerging problem of neonatal withdrawal syndrome as it pertains to prescription drugs.

Other task force members would include: the state surgeon general, the secretary of Children and Family Services, the secretary of the Health Care Administration, the executive director of the Department of Law Enforcement, a state senator, a House member; a representative from the Florida Medical Association, a representative from the Florida Hospital Association, and a representative from an addiction and recovery association appointed by the attorney general.