Drug abuse not just a young person’s problem

We tend to think of drug abuse as a young person’s issue. But a new report finds that is not always the case. In fact, the report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finds prescription drug abuse is rampant among the elderly population. It finds nearly 12 million Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S. received at least one prescription for some type of opiod pain killer last year. These are powerful prescriptions, for drugs like OxyContin and fentanyl. And these weren’t just one-time prescriptions. The report finds that among those Medicare recipients receiving prescriptions for powerful opiods, they averaged five prescriptions or refills. It seems the Geritol set are a bunch of pill poppers. It makes sense to some degree, as the elderly are more likely to have health issues that may lead to pain. But clearly there is more going on here. Doctors are clearly overprescribing these powerful drugs, which is leading to addictions, and death. There were nearly 19,000 fatal overdoses on prescription drugs in the U.S. last year. And all these drugs are costing taxpayers. All those painkillers handed out through Medicare cost taxpayers more than $4 billion last year. Medicare needs to do more to prevent such overprescription of powerful painkillers. Starting next year, the federal government will stop paying for prescriptions written by doctors not enrolled in Medicare. But the agency also needs to work to help patients consider alternatives for chronic pain, such as walking and even yoga. More needs to be done to prevent abuse of powerful drugs among our seniors.