Child Hospitalizations For Prescription Opioid Poisoning Up Sharply Since 1997

The New York Times (10/31, A23, De La Cruz, Subscription Publication) reports, “The number of children being hospitalized because of prescription opioid poisoning has risen sharply since 1997, especially among toddlers and older teenagers,” investigators found in a study published online Oct. 31 in JAMA Pediatrics.

The Wall Street Journal (10/31, A3, Whalen, Subscription Publication) reports that children fours years of age and under are especially at risk of being poisoned after swallowing medicines their parents have. Adolescents are also poisoned while abusing opioid medications, and some teens use such medicines as a way of committing suicide, the study revealed.

In “To Your Health,” the Washington Post (10/31, Cha) reports that the study authors arrived at these conclusions after analyzing “discharge papers collected every three years from a representative sample of pediatric hospitals nationwide.” Those data revealed that “13,052 children were hospitalized for poisonings from opioid prescriptions of” medications containing opioids “during six years between 1997 to 2012. Of those, 176 died.”

Related Links:

— “Opioid Poisonings Rise Sharply Among Toddlers and Teenagers,” DONNA DE LA CRUZ, New York Times, October 31, 2016.

Posted in In The News.