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Report: Drug crisis taking toll on New Hampshire newborns

CONCORD, N.H. -- A report says New Hampshire's worsening opioid crisis has led to a five-fold increase over the past decade in the numbers of newborns suffering from a drug-related condition that causes tremors, seizures and breathing problems.

The report released Tuesday from the University of New Hampshire and New Futures Kids Count found the number of infants diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS, has gone from 52 in 2005 to 269 in 2015. Babies diagnosed with NAS remained in the hospital for 12 days, compared to three days for other newborns.

New Hampshire has been one of the state's hardest hit by the drug crisis, with the Attorney General's office reporting 350 overdose deaths in the first 11 months of 2017. A majority were linked to the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.

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