Nearly 1 in 3 on Medicare Receive Opioid Prescription, Report: At Cost of $4.1B Last Year

Nearly 1 in 3 on Medicare Receive Opioid Prescription, Report: At Cost of $4.1B Last Year

These statistics are from a report from the Office of Inspector Genner for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
$4.1 billion is a lot of money, but the cost in human life is even more shocking. Our medical system helps kills 52 people every day by writing prescriptions for opioids. To put that in perspective, when 49 people were killed in Ordando recently, it was international news. Yes, it was a horrible thing to happen, but opioids prescription medication kills 52 people a day, and no one says a word. Dead is dead. Why aren’t we marching in the streets in protest? This finally being talked about and probably in part because high profile famous people are among the fatalities and because it is costing 4.1 billion dollars per year. Not because the average Jane/Joe is dying at an alarming rate. But still, the average person is not aware of these statistics.
I am always astounded by older adults (I am one too) who talk about kids and the illegal drug problem. If they are addicted to prescription pain killers, they do not consider that a drug problem. And they are probably not aware that we kill many more Americans with prescription drugs than illegal drugs.

Important Note! The information in Wholistically Speaking is for educational purposes only and should not be used to diagnose and/or treat diseases. If you have a health problem, I highly recommend you consult a competent health practitioner and educate yourself before embarking on any course of treatment.