Letter to Pamela S. Hyde Administrator Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration
Letter
Pamela S. Hyde
Administrator
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration
1 Choke Cherry Road
Rockville, MD 20857
Dear Administrator Hyde:
I write to you to encourage the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to focus on a new challenge in the epidemic of prescription drug abuse: neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a withdrawal syndrome that occurs in some babies after being exposed to a class of opiates while in utero. Recently published research has found that every hour, one baby is born suffering from drug withdrawal. A study published in May in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimated that in 2009 more than 13,000 babies were born with NAS.
SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment is a critical part of the fight against prescription drug abuse. As part of CSAT's work to train medical and substance abuse professionals, I ask that you work with our office to find ways to increase knowledge about and continue your leadership efforts for the prevention and treatment of opioid addictions among pregnant women and babies with NAS.
I appreciate the work that SAMHSA is doing to decrease the illicit use of opioid and other drugs and increase safe and healthy pregnancies through its Services Grant Program for Residential Treatment Pregnant and Postpartum Women (PPW). Congress should fully support the funding of this program. I also welcome the best practices that SAMHSA has promoted for the treatment of infants with NAS, along with SAMHSA's guidance on pre-natal care for pregnant women undergoing treatment for opioid addiction in order to reduce the risk of NAS.As you know, CSAT manages the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) which allows qualifying physicians to be authorized to practice medication-assisted opioid therapy. I ask that SAMHSA do more to encourage physicians to sign up for this important component of addiction treatment. In addition, please provide my office with information about how this program is working to combat NAS.
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