More California babies born addicted to drugs
By Phillip Reese, Sacramento Bee
A growing number of California infants are born addicted to drugs, according to a Bee review of new state data.
About 1,190 California newborns were diagnosed with drug withdrawal syndrome last year, up more than 50 percent from a decade earlier, according to hospital discharge data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. That translates to about one addicted newborn for every 400 births.
The increase comes as the number of California births has dropped sharply.
