© 2025 WGCU News
PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Improved Care Could Be On The Way For Babies Born Addicted To Drugs

The bill would fund a new data surveillance system.
Flickr Creative Commons
The bill would fund a new data surveillance system.

Florida Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio’s introduced the Protecting Newborns from Opioid Abuse Act on Thursday. It would set up a new system of collecting information around mothers and babies affected by Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, and sharing it with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

There’s been a five-fold increase in these births from 2000 to 2012, with  more than 22,000 babies being born with symptoms of withdrawal.

Copyright 2020 Health News Florida. To see more, visit .

By Danielle Prieur
Trusted by over 30,000 local subscribers

Local News, Right Sized for Your Morning

Quick briefs when you are busy, deeper explainers when it matters, delivered early morning and curated by WGCU editors.

  • Environment
  • Local politics
  • Health
  • And more

Free and local. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.