Published: June 13, 2011
Updated: 5:15 p.m.
By TONY SAAVEDRA
tsaavedra@ocregister.com
The use of prescription painkillers, tranquilizers and stimulants among Orange County seniors is outpacing their growth in population, according to a Grand Jury report released Monday.
Although it is difficult to gauge prescription drug abuse among Orange County’s half-million seniors — age 61 and older — the grand jury report stressed that more study is needed.
The report showed that Orange County’s elderly population grew by 3 percent annually from 2007 to 2010. At the same time, their use of pain killers grew by an average 15.7 percent annually, their use of tranquilizers grew by 11.5 percent and stimulants by 8 percent. The report drew on a database of drug prescriptions kept by the California Department of Justice.
Grand jurors also looked at one Orange County emergency room that tracked prescription drug overdoses and found the number of incidents involving seniors rose from 22 in 2006 to 128 in 2010.
The report recommended that a comprehensive study on prescription drug abuse by senior citizens be conducted by the Orange County Health Agency. The county should also determine whether grant money is available for such a topic.
Among other recommendations, the report said county health care facilities should screen elderly patients for signs of drug abuse.
The county could also make better use of the prescription data kept by the Department of Justice, the report said.
Dr. Eleni Hailemariam, associate medical director for the county’s older adult services, said the county would need help funding a study. Hailemariam also said the county would need to partner with private medical groups to screen seniors for drug abuse.
She added, however, the issue is an important one.
“It is a big problem and we anticipate it will get bigger as the population gets bigger,” Hailemariam said.
Here is a direct link to the report.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/drugs-304316-elderly-grand.html
No comments:
Post a Comment