“As America grapples with an opioid epidemic, senior citizens are often overlooked.
Yet, older adults are highly susceptible to chronic pain and the prescription painkiller addiction is hitting this population.
“We really are looking at the opioid epidemic, we know how destructive it is, but we think of its younger victims,” Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said at an event on aging and addiction, hosted by The Hill and sponsored by Surescripts.
Roughly one in three beneficiaries in Medicare’s prescription drug program received a prescription for opioids in 2016. About half a million received high amounts of opioids. And nearly 90,000 are at “serious risk” of opioid misuse or overdose, according to a July report by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Read more at: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/356890-opioid-epidemic-also-hitting-older-adults
Source: TheHill.com – October 24, 2017
See related article: Silent but Deadly Abuse Fuels Opioids Epidemic Among Aging Americans available at: http://www.providermagazine.com/news/Pages/2017/1017/Silent-but-Deadly-Abuse-Fuels-Opioids-Epidemic-Among-Aging-Americans–.aspx
