For the third year in a row, the Institute for Patient Access and National Coalition for Infant Health hosted the 2017 Infant Health Policy Summit in Washington, DC on October 26.
Health care providers, patient advocates, and policy makers gathered to discuss patient access issues facing vulnerable infants and their families.
Expert panels explored how the opioid crisis is bringing a baby boomer disease to pregnant women and how an attempt to fix hospital tubing mix-ups could endanger preemies in a new way. Other discussions centered on how existing problems, such as preemies’ inability to access preventive treatment for a deadly seasonal virus or human donor milk for optimal nutrition, continue to pose risks.
The summit’s keynote address featured Adam Busby, star of TLC’s “OutDaughtered.” The show chronicles the life of he and his wife, Danielle, as parents of all-girl quintuplets. Earlier this year, during the show’s third season, Adam came public with his experience of paternal postpartum depression.
Attendees also heard from Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Newborn Health Initiative. Once a preemie himself, Rosenberg advocates for medicines that are designed for and tested on infants. There has not been a new drug approved to improve survival and outcomes in premature infants in over 25 years.
