Pam Bondi Releases Final Report by Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and Newborns

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has released the Final Report of her Statewide Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and Newborns; the report contains the task force'sfindings and policy recommendations. The task force, developed during the 2012 legislative session, has examined the scope of prescription drug abuse by expectant mothers, the costs associated with caring for babies with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, the long-term effects of the syndrome, and prevention strategies.

The Statewide Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and Newborns recommendations include ways to dramatically reduce the prevalence of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and create better outcomes for both newborns and pregnant women, Bondi said in a press release. My thanks to the members of the Task Force for their dedication to protecting innocent babies from prescription drug abuse and raising awareness about this issue. We are eager to begin implementation of these recommendations and start saving lives.

The 15 recommendations of the task force are as follows:

PREVENTION

1. Develop and implement a coordinated statewide public awareness initiative, through existing community resources, that is intended to educate the public about the dangers of prescription drug abuse during pregnancy.

2. Ensure that all school-based prescription-drug-speci?c primary prevention efforts are properly developed, evidence-based, rigorously evaluated, and sustainable.

INTERVENTION AND BEST PRACTICES

1.Make drug screening pregnant patients a voluntary best practice policy for obstetricians. Screening would occur via the most appropriate methods determined by obstetricians as part of their patient standard of care.

2. Develop curricula for Florida nursing and medical schools to address addiction as a brain disease, as well as to develop continuing education credits for medical professionals that would enhance the knowledge and skills needed to more effectively manage chronic pain, treat substance use disorders, and better prevent prescription drug diversion.

3. Create a toolkit of best practices for nurses caring for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) newborns and their families.

4. Collaborate with communities (hospital staff, medical personnel, Healthy Start, Early Steps) to implement a system of case conferencing for NAS infants so as to better coordinate services before discharge from a hospital.

5. Find innovative ways to increase the voluntary use of Floridas Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) among medical professionals.

6. Create an immunity provision in Florida law for pregnant woman seeking prenatal care or substance abuse treatment.

7. Create a toolkit to help communities establish and maintain Substance Exposed Newborn Workgroups.

8. Work with federal agencies to fund research projects in Florida aimed at: (1) understanding the full economic costs associated with NAS in Florida; (2) enhancing our understanding of effective treatment methods for NAS infants and mothers with opioid dependence; (3) understanding the long-term consequences of maternal opioid pain reliever abuse on children; and (4) funding expanded access to evidence-based behavioral interventions for at-risk mothers (such as electronictherapy and nonresidential community-based care).

9. Ensure appropriate adoption procedures and support are in place for families wishing to adopt a drug-exposed newborn.

10. The Agency for Health Care Administration will create a workgroup to assess the viability of expanding the Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) model beyond health care settings to other settings where at-risk mothers can be reached.

TREATMENT

1. Develop treatment protocols for drug-exposed newborns as well as recommendations for alternatives to narcotics for pain management in pregnant women.

2. Enhance the capacity of the behavioral health system to ensure that pregnant women and mothers have immediate access to the appropriate level of care through a continuum of services that, at a minimum, includes expandingresidential treatment capacity, expanding intensive outpatient treatment capacity, and funding case management services to assist women leaving treatment.

3. Add Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome to the list of Reportable Diseases and Events.