NPR talks with MPH graduate about the state’s efforts to track cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome
Many states — including some that have been hardest hit by the opioid crisis — don't know how many of their youngest residents each year are born physically dependent on those drugs. Those states might look to Tennessee's tracking efforts. Tennessee reacted quickly when doctors started seeing a lot more cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome in 2012, recalls Dr. Michael Warren, a pediatrician and public health specialist with Tennessee's Department of Health.