For the second year in a row, life expectancy in the U.S. has dropped, and the CDC is attributing the cause to opioid abuse. Rare Media is about to launch an extensive series about the opioid crisis' smallest victims – babies born to dependent mothers who are themselves, addicted. Gayle Putrich, Rare's Heartland Editor, tells how communities in Ohio and West Virginia are trying to help.
Ohio and West Virginia are at the center of the nation's opioid epidemic. Putrich tells us about Huntington West Virginia, where one in five babies born at Cabel hospital there has been exposed to drugs in the womb.
This condition is called Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. With so few resources dedicated to helping these children and families, clinics such as Brigid's Path in Ohio and Lily's Place in West Virginia are helping through grants and donations.
A painter finds inspiration after a serious medical diagnosis, a teacher returns to school after a year battling leukemia and a family raises funds for cancer research after suffering a loss themselves.
Actors Anthony Anderson and Cedric the Entertainer, known for their roles on Black-ish and The Neighborhood respectively, are teaming up to launch a "BBQ lifestyle brand" called AC Barbeque and starring in a new show called Kings of Barbeque.
