USA. There's No Such Thing as a Baby Opioid Addict
USA. There's No Such Thing as a Baby Opioid Addict
“They can be born dependent on a substance, but there is a difference between dependence and addiction.”
(...) The distinction matters for opioid-exposed babies for a number of reasons. One reason is that addiction can be managed, but it doesn't have a cure, says Robert Newman, president emeritus of Beth Israel Medical Center. That can lead some people to think that once babies are "addicted," they're addicted for life. The label can impact them from their earliest experiences.
"It has enormous potential harm to the babies, as the baby grows up, and to the family because of the stigma of the term 'addict,'" Newman says. "If the baby applies to kindergarten and the parent is asked about health issues and the parent says, 'the baby was born addicted,' that's the kiss of death. A lot of parents don't want their child sitting next to an addict." (vice.com, USA, 08.11.2017)
https://tonic.vice.com/en_us/article/bj75n5/baby-opioid-addicts-dont-exist