AN interesting article, just out in USA Today, points to the increase of prescription drug abusers showing up in the hospital ER's lately y - a staggering 111%!
The thing is, showing up in the ER, with multiple complaints, in an attempt to obtain prescription drugs, is not something new. It's been going on for a long, long time.
I've either seen it, or been aware of it, throughout most of my nursing career. It's great that the public is now being made aware of it but I feel more attention should have been paid long before now and better steps taken to prevent and investigate such abuse.
And, let's face it, it's not just about the abuse alone, which is often costly in terms of family relationships, and problems at work. But in terms of health care costs too, as many of these patients don't pay their hospital bills. That, in turn, puts a hefty financial burden on the rest of us. Health care fraud such as this needs to be investigated thoroughly. Please read below:
Between 2004 and 2008, the estimated number of emergency department visits linked to prescription pain relievers — including Oxycodone- and Hydrocodone-containing products, and methadone drugs — jumped 111%, from 144,644 visits to 305,885 visits a year, according to a study out Thursday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"These drugs are being prescribed more often. As the number of prescriptions increase, we have seen an increase in ERvisits involving the use of the drugs in a non-medical way," says Len Paulozzi, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC's Injury Center. . . " Read More
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