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.
Senior dogs only have a 25% adoption rate, according to the ASPCA. Josey Miller of Best Friends Animal Society and seven-year-old Christine the Chihuahua joined Cheddar News to discuss the benefits of adopting older pets and to dismiss some myths about taking them home.
