Nearly 10% of women on Medicaid who had live births during each reporting year in a New York state study received a prescription for opioids. The study focused on women of reproductive age from 2008 to 2013. It was published online in May in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, tweeted the day before the study’s publication: “Use of Rx #opioids during pregnancy can lead to birth defects. Talk to doctor