People Ages 45 To 64 Accounted For About 50% Of All Deaths From Medication Overdose, CDC Says

The NPR (5/5, Gourlay) “Shots” blog runs a piece from RINPR reporting, “In 2013 and 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people ages 45 to 64 accounted for about half of all deaths from” medication overdose, with “a particular increase for people over 55…says” Boston Medical Center epidemiologist Traci Green, PhD, MSc. Jeffrey Bratberg, PharmD, BCPS, a University of Rhode Island Pharmacy professor, “says the way people in this age group tend to take drugs is also putting them at higher risk.” He explained that not only are people, “taking longer-acting opioids,” but they are also “taking doses that, at certain thresholds, are associated with increased overdose death.” What’s more, “Bratberg says, they’re more likely to have chronic health conditions that put them at higher risk of respiratory depression.”

Related Links:

— “In Prince’s Age Group, Risk Of Opioid Overdose Climbs,” Kristin Gourlay, National Public Radio, May 5, 2016.

Posted in In The News.