STATE COUNTS INFANT ADDICTION CASESFor the first time, Tennessee required hospitals to report cases of babies born addicted to drugs in 2013, resulting in 855 cases.• 63% included abuse of at least one substance prescribed by a health care provider.• About one-third of all births were complicated by drug addiction in East and Northeast regions• Fewer cases of infant addiction were reported in early 2014, but an increase in recent weeks has the state on pace for a similar situation this year. In the first 11 weeks, 145 cases were reported.
A year after a tense legislative battle, a proposal to allow Tennessee authorities to arrest women for damage done to their infants by drug use during pregnancy has moved closer to passage.
Women have been protected from prosecution since state lawmakers eliminated the criminal penalty two years ago. The state has moved toward emphasizing treatment over punishment.
But a push to reinstate criminal charges, framed around the growing number of cases identified by the state, has gained momentum this year.
Prior opposition has relaxed this year as state health and substance abuse agencies, along with leaders of children’s hospitals, have helped modify the proposal. If passed, the law would allow women to be charged with misdemeanor assault if their infants are born drug-dependent. That’s an increasing condition in Tennessee, rising from 56 cases in 2001, when reporting wasn’t mandatory, to 855 in 2013, according to state data.