America's elderly face growing drug addiction problem

[survivor999]

By Toni Clarke | May 17, 2006

BOSTON (Reuters) - When Patrick Gallagher first began nodding off at dinner, his family thought it was a symptom of old age. Their fears grew as it worsened.

Withdrawing from the world at age 64, Gallagher was addicted to a cocktail of alcohol and prescription painkillers.

"My whole life was centered around making sure I had an adequate supply of drugs and alcohol," said the former instructor at the University of Miami.

Gallagher, of Jensen Beach, Florida, is an elderly substance abuser, a fast-growing group in the United States as baby boomers age.

A government survey estimates that the number of adults aged 50 or older with substance abuse problems will double to 5 million in 2020 from 2.5 million in 1999, in large part due to their comfort with prescription drugs.

"There is a huge concern that what we're going to be seeing is a tidal wave of seriously affected substance abusers in later life," said Frederic Blow, an associate professor at the University of Michigan Medical School who specializes in geriatric substance abuse.


Full article here: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/05/17/americas_elderly_face_growing_drug_addiction_problem?mode=PF

EDIT: COPYRIGHT. PLEASE POST ONLY 4 OR 5 PARAGRAPHS
FROM THE COPYRIGHTED NEWS SOURCE PER DU RULES.

[Skidmore]

1. Big Pharma--your legal neighborhood pusher.

We are overmedicated on all levels as a society. I hold the pharmaceutical business responsible and the doctors who help them hawk their wares. I've come to agree with Bill Maher on the subject of prescription and OTC medications. Using the medications often means that you may need to take others to deal with the side effects. Pretty soon your body is so screwed up and toxic, that you have been medicated into infirmity.

[survivor999]

3. Agree...

Of course, a society where elderly people are seen pretty much as garbage waiting to be picked up doesn't help...

[Missy M]

7. In this day and age 64 doesn't seem that old.....

and in this society the elderly aren't only seen as garbage, they also become invisible. No one wants to take the time with them so they ignore them.

[donsu]

10. agree - doctors prosper off addicted patients

nt

[Webster Green]

2. Good!....If it feels good, then do it!

Too bad they stopped making Quaaludes!

Bastards!

[Dora]

4. RIP Penny.

Marv and Penny were our neighbors while I was growing up. Marv was retired from the Air Force, and he liked to play golf 2-3 times a week. Penny stayed at home most of the time with her highballs and cigarettes, and her many prescriptions for aches and pains.

Penny began to have problems getting her prescriptions renewed. The doctors weren't as cooperative as they used to be, the old guard was retiring to the golf course, and the young doctors could recognize an addict when they saw one. Penny wasn't unhealthy, Penny didn't have injuries to cause her pain, Penny's pain was a result of her addiction.

Penny's aches and pains got worse, as did her drinking, and her smoking. She finally just took to bed one day and wouldn't get up. She had always been rail thin, but she stopped eating and her body began to waste away. Finally, Marv took her to a hospital.

While in hospital, Penny fell down while trying to get out of the bed on her own and broke her hip. She died two weeks later. :cry:

[survivor999]

12. Very sad story....

n/t

[shain from kane]

5. Another attempt to excuse Limpballs' behavior? Just one of the

boys? One of the many? Another hillbilly heroin victim?

[Asgaya Dihi]

6. It is out of hand

My mother in law is pretty messed up and blames it at least partly on Vioxx, for a while they were trying to pump a bunch of ADD stuff into my kids and it didn't seem to solve anything either and gets sidetracked and abused too often. But we're sending kids to jail or giving them criminal records over pot, which is less dangerous than drinking and less addictive than your soda or coffee.

It's all about money, doing us good or harm is the least of what drives or justifies it.

[Mandate My Ass]

8. The elderly face having cheaper necessary drugs intercepted

by the Feds. Those on fixed incomes can't afford to buy American but it's illegal to have them shipped more cheaply from Canada. :wtf:

That should be of more concern than seniors getting high.

[donsu]

9. they are not getting 'high'. they are addicted which is no fun!

think again

[survivor999]

11. By definition

"addiction" is something people want to get out of but are unable to... One of the defining attributes is precisely this...

[WePurrsevere]

13. They're just figuring this out? Back in the 80's when I was still in

nursing quite a few of us noticed a very real problem with seniors being over medicated and occasionally addicted (physically and/or emotionally) to prescription drugs. Years later I ran into this on a personal level when my DH and I were full-time caregivers to his elderly parents.

People from the WWII/Depression era tend to have absolute faith in their doctors and don't always understand the directions on their meds (ex: "take 2 as needed" meant take 2 as often and whenever he wanted to my now late FIL. He also would wash it down with liqueur. When we moved in and saw what was going on we both flipped and stopped that PDQ. What really ticked me off was: the easily obtained refills he'd be given; the fact that a normal side effect of the med was "mini strokes", which can cause DEMENTIA, and then, discovering as his dementia progressed, that DH and I could pull a switch, give him pink Good and Plenty's, same color as the pill, and they worked as well... none of this ever occurred to their long time doctor ::sigh:: )

Although there are times when modern medicine is a miracle and will save lives it also has it's drawbacks. The problem with Boomers and their children is that to many (and the doctors that treat them) the easy answer to every "problem" is to pop a pill. OTOH there are those like my DH and I who are the opposite. Although we are both disabled and we're certainly not anti-medication (it has it's place) we fight taking any prescription medications unless it's absolutely necessary and use natural as much as possible, however out of our 3 children (2 mine, 1 his) only one is like us and prefers to avoid taking meds, the other two are of the "pop a pill" mentality. Personally I think the Pharm companies putting commercials on TV are partly to blame and the belief that making things as "easy" as possible is always better doesn't help.

The problem with elderly becoming addicted probably is growing. Our elderly population is growing as the "boomers" age and many of us and the "baby boomers babies" are simply to comfortable with the "pop a pill, make it better" mentality.

(BTW OT - when the heck did "elderly" become anywhere near the age my husband and I are ((51 & 46)? :wow: My parents are "elderly"... we are middle-aged and will remain that way until we're in our 70's... or so... maybe ;) )

[noonwitch]

14. To paraphrase Cheif Wiggum: "Let Florida handle it"

Cheif Wiggum originally said "Let Michigan handle it", which is not so much of a joke as you might think. Michigan courts will assume jurisdiction over out of state runaways if the state of orgin/parents won't take them back, because we won't leave a kid without a guardian. Then our taxpayers have to pay for their care.

So when it comes to problems with the elderly, I say let Florida handle it.