The Florida House voted unanimously today for a bill that would create a task force that would research how to best help babies born to women who are addicted to prescription medications.
As my colleague Virginia Chamlee and I reported last November, while the Legislature was cracking down on “pill mills,” little was done to help babies who are born to women who are already drug-addicted.
Women who are pregnant and addicted to prescription medication face a high-risk pregnancies and could have health complications that put their pregnancies at risk, too. Advocates have warned that simply cutting off prescription drugs for these women might do harm where it is not intended.
The bill that passed today, which has been making its way through the state Senate as well, would require the task force to submit a report of its recommendations by Jan. 15, 2013.
