The number of Kentucky hospitalizations for drug-dependent newborns has continued to skyrocket.
The number of hospitalizations for drug-dependent newborns in the state rose 48 percent last year, compared to 2013.
Those 1,409 hospitalizations last year represent a 50-fold increase from just 28 hospitalizations in 2000.
According to a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine, admissions of drug-dependent babies to U.S. hospitals nearly quadrupled from 2004 through 2013.
Dr. Veeral Tolia, a Texas doctor and lead author of the journal article, says the surge is a result of a recent national opioid abuse crisis.
Researchers say more pregnant women are being prescribed painkillers, which both raises the risk of having a drug-dependent baby and can sometimes lead to abuse and addiction.