Portal Login:
  • Clients
  • Providers
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
    Portal Login:
  • Clients
  • Providers
  • About MCN
  • Careers
  • MCNTalk
  • Contact Us

MCN | Medical Consultants Network

The Power of a Second Look

  • Services
    • Independent Medical Examinations
    • Medical Peer Reviews
    • Bill Review Services
    • Utilization Reviews
  • Expertise
    • Short and Long-Term Disability
    • Workers’ Compensation
    • Auto/PIP/Casualty/Liability
    • Independent Review Organization Services
  • For Clients
  • For Providers
  • Your Exam
    • About Your Exam
    • About Your External Review
    • Contact & Scheduling
  • Schedule Now
  • About MCN
  • MCNTalk
  • Careers
  • Contact Us

MCNTalk
News, Insights & Opinions

Home / MCNTalk / Tag: addiction

Viewing items tagged:

addiction

June 13, 2018

The Youngest Addicts

In the United States, the number of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome has increased 123 percent from 2009 to 2014. This syndrome happens when women inject opioids during pregnancy. In the year 2014, 30,445 babies were born addicted to opioids and spent the first months of their lives battling withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, irritability, sleep problems, and high-pitched screaming.

The question most doctors and mothers ask is: how will neonatal abstinence syndrome effect the baby physically and mentally in the long run? This article sites a study where researchers tracked nearly 100 children and their mothers for 36 months. Hendrée Jones, the executive director at UNC Horizons and the co-author of the study, expressed that there were reasons to be optimistic about the children’s fates. “The children through time tended to score within the normal range of the tests that we had,” Jones said.

Dr. Stephanie Merhar, a neonatologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, researched this topic and after studying 87 infants, she found that the children were testing within the normal range of development; she also noted, though, that the risk of serious delays is still very high, and children need to be monitored closely because the long-term affects are still unknown.

While a cause and effect correlation cannot be established yet, Dr. Lauren Jansson, the director of pediatrics at the Center for Addiction and Pregnancy at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, believes that the most promising treatment for children who are exposed prenatally to substances is to treat their mothers to overcome their own addictions.

Tagged: addiction, Babies, Center for Addiction and Pregnancy, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Dr. Jansson, Dr. Merhar, Hendree Jones, Johns Hopkins, opioid, Stephanie Merhar, UNC Horizons Leave a Comment

January 16, 2013

Risks and “Dangers” of Marijuana Legalization?

Overall evidence for dangers of marijuana do not support continued criminalization.

Steadily it appears that its use will be permitted, though there remains a disconnect between state laws liberalizing possession and growing, vs. federal standards that at least as written, continue to criminalize use and distribution.

As the matter evolves, we should not be naïve to the potential risk of users abusing and developing an addiction to marijuana and its potential impact on cognition, and youth, especially when not used in “moderation.”

A New York Times article, “Legalizing of Marijuana Raises Health Concerns,” states:

“While marijuana can be addictive, scientists generally agree that fewer than 10 percent of marijuana smokers become dependent on the drug, compared with 15 percent for alcohol, 23 percent for heroin and 32 percent for tobacco.

Marijuana does contain carcinogens, including tar and other toxins similar to those found in tobacco, but people generally do not smoke marijuana in the same amounts as cigarettes. Still, legalization takes health consumers into murky territory. Even though marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States, questions about its health effects remain.”

Sounds like the same risks, more or less, of many other legal substances, consumed in excess or misused, including alcohol, prescription drugs, and/or firearms. Whether society should outlaw substances and products that can be used with little risk or high damage is a question that is increasingly being answered at the ballot box.

Tagged: addiction, brain, Drug Abuse, drug abuse, Government Policy, health concerns, Legal Issues, Lifestyle and habits, marijuana legalization, state law 1 Comment

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • The Quality Divide: What Makes a Quality IME Physician?
  • The Quality Divide: Is Your Vendor Driving IME Excellence?
  • The Quality Divide: When and How to Request an IME?
  • April Clinic Calendars Are Available
  • MCN’s Client Portal Login Page is Changing

Archives

Footer


  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Quick Links

  • Services
  • Expertise
  • About MCN
  • Careers

Division Headquarters

MCN
1200 5th Ave., Ste. 650
Seattle, WA 98101

See all offices

Email Us

General Inquiries: info@mcn.com
Sales & Marketing: marketing@mcn.com

Call Us

206.343.6100
800.248.6269

© Copyright 2023 Mitchell International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap