COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio House has approved a bill
requiring hospital maternity units and newborn care nurseries and
maternity homes to report the number of babies born addicted to drugs.
The
reporting to the state Health Department, mandated for every three
months, is one of several bills aimed at reducing the state’s
prescription painkiller addiction epidemic.
The bill sponsored by
Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, a Republican from Napoleon in northwest Ohio, would
not include information that could identify the child.
Wachtmann says tracking the number of drug-addicted babies will help the state monitor Ohio’s progress
fighting drug addiction.
The measure, approved unanimously on Wednesday, heads to the Senate.
Overdose
drug deaths, many of them from painkillers and heroin, have been the
leading cause of accidental death in Ohio, surpassing car crashes, since
2007.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material m
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio House has approved a bill
requiring hospital maternity units and newborn care nurseries and
maternity homes to report the number of babies born addicted to drugs.
The
reporting to the state Health Department, mandated for every three
months, is one of several bills aimed at reducing the state’s
prescription painkiller addiction epidemic.
The bill sponsored by
Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, a Republican from Napoleon in northwest Ohio, would
not include information that could identify the child.
Wachtmann says tracking the number of drug-addicted babies will help the state monitor Ohio’s progress
fighting drug addiction.
The measure, approved unanimously on Wednesday, heads to the Senate.
Overdose
drug deaths, many of them from painkillers and heroin, have been the
leading cause of accidental death in Ohio, surpassing car crashes, since
2007.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material m