Stephen Patrick

April 22, 2020

Safeguarding opioids a concern as children may have more access with families at home due to COVID-19

A new poll from the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy found that few Tennessee parents take steps to safeguard opioids at home, an important concern when children are spending more time indoors due to COVID-19 social distancing recommendations.

By Jake Lowary
December 20, 2019

Tennessee Receives Grant from Federal Government to Address Opioid Crisis

The Division of TennCare will partner with VUMC as part of the MOM program focusing on 26 rural and urban counties to improve the outcomes for women with opioid use disorder and their infants.

By Holly Fletcher
October 10, 2019

Project seeks to enhance opioid care for infants

The number of opioid-exposed infants who were connected, along with their families, to outside resources upon discharge from the hospital surged in a recent six-month pilot.

By Holly Fletcher
July 15, 2019

Parental substance use linked to increase in infants in foster care

The nation’s opioid crisis is a factor in the recent increase in the number of infants entering the nation’s foster care system, with at least half of all infant placements now a result of parental substance use.

By Holly Fletcher
February 14, 2019

Patrick’s work lauded by Society for Pediatric Research

Stephen Patrick, MD, MPH, MS, has been named to receive the Society for Pediatric Research 2019 Young Investigator Award, an honor bestowed upon a young physician who has embarked on a career in investigative pediatrics.

By Christina Echegaray
January 29, 2019

Long-term unemployment linked to increase in babies born with drug withdrawal

Babies born after being exposed to opioids before birth are more likely to be delivered in regions of the U.S. with high rates of long-term unemployment and lower levels of mental health services, according to a study from researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the RAND Corporation.

By Holly Fletcher
September 27, 2018

Innovative strategies crucial in opioid epidemic response

Reining in the nation’s opioid epidemic will require diverse and innovative strategies ranging from drug discovery to “policy translation,” according to speakers at a recent Vanderbilt Faculty Cutting-edge Discovery Lecture.
By Bill Snyder
July 26, 2018

Team Hope program’s mission is to enhance care for newborns with NAS

A collaborative program across units at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is changing the way nurses and doctors care for newborns diagnosed with drug withdrawal symptoms at birth, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).
By Christina Echegaray
July 12, 2018

Study reveals opioid patients face multiple barriers to treatment

In areas of the country disproportionately affected by the opioid crisis, treatment programs are less likely to accept patients paying through insurance of any type or accept pregnant women, a new Vanderbilt study found.
By Christina Echegaray
May 17, 2018

Early discharge of NAS infants prolongs treatment

Infants who are diagnosed with drug withdrawal after birth who are treated with medication as outpatients at home are treated three times longer than infants treated solely as inpatients, according to a new Vanderbilt study.
By Christina Echegaray
March 23, 2018

Study tracks impact of NAS on state Medicaid programs 

In the United States, one infant is born every 15 minutes with withdrawal symptoms after being exposed to opioids before birth, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.
By Christina Echegaray
June 15, 2017

Patrick honored for neonatal abstinence syndrome research

Stephen W. Patrick, M.D., MPH, MS, has been chosen to receive the Nemours Child Health Services Research Award, recognizing his work surrounding neonatal abstinence syndrome, a drug withdrawal syndrome experienced by infants exposed to opioids while in utero.
By Christina Echegaray
May 11, 2017

Hepatitis C infections among pregnant women increasing

Hepatitis C infections among pregnant women nearly doubled from 2009-2014, likely a consequence of the country’s increasing opioid epidemic that is disproportionately affecting rural areas of states including Tennessee and West Virginia.
By Craig Boerner
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