Growing numbers of children and young people are ending up in the emergency room because of prescription opioid poisoning, often following an attempted suicide or accidental poisoning.
According to a report published in JAMA, the number of cases in this age group rose by more than 200 percent between 1997 and 2012.
In 2014, opioid use led to 18,893 deaths in the US, and the number of addictions and nonfatal overdoses is on the rise. Emergency department visits related to prescription opioid use are now on a par with those linked to illegal drug use.
Prescription Opioids Blamed for Rise in Pediatric Poisonings
