Overdoses from prescription pain killers result in 40+ deaths a day and 1.2 million emergency room visits a year, a 98.4% increase since 2004. Sales of opiods in 2010 were 4X more than 1999. Unlike users of illegal drugs, these addicted people usually aren't injecting, they are employed, and they have family support. But as with users of illegal drugs, short term treatment isn't very successful. JAMA, Jan. 4, 2012.
Just a wild guess here--I'm not a researcher or doctor--but it would seem that addiction can happen without poverty and societal breakdown (numbers are higher than for cocaine and heroin). It happens even with excellent health insurance. So when creating new government programs to help the addicted- low income, I hope someone looks at this report. Addiction to prescribed drugs according to this report also varies by state--so look for older people with a lot of surgical procedures for knees, hips, back, cancer, etc., to account for an increase as the population ages. States like Florida and New Mexico have a greater problem with this than Illinois and Nebraska. Also, what year was it the drug plan for Medicare kicked in?
Monday, January 30, 2012
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1 comment:
Murray sez:
You need to ask your classmate Zick when the Prescription D plan started. He thought it was the greatest piece of legislation in 50 years. He's now professing that Obamacare has risen to #1.
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