Seniors at higher risk 
of abusing prescriptions

((Excerpt))

Seniors, who often take multiple medications prescribed by different doctors, are at risk for prescription drug abuse and may be subject to overdose and interaction side effects from those medications, Ohio health officials said.

People aged 65 and older comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population, yet account for a third of the population using prescription drugs, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Nearly 20 percent of the 125 unintentional prescription drug deaths last year in Montgomery County were people age 55 and older, according to Center for Interventions, Treatment & Addictions Research at Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine.

Some of those deaths were accidental but others were not so benign, said Russel Falck, a Wright State associate professor and CITAR’s associate director.

“They have access to more drugs because they are older and they may be using them for purposes that are not always in their best medical interest,” he said.

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