Opioids are Like Guns in the Hands of Children Save

The opioid abuse epidemic is well known and the focus of many regulators and health care personnel.  The problem also affects the youngest Americans, according to a recent Washington Post article. 

JAMA Pediatrics reports an analysis of pediatric hospital discharges nationwide between 1997 -2012 and found that 13,052 children were hospitalized for opioid overdoses with Oxycodone, Percocet, codeine and the like narcotics. (Citation source http://buff.ly/2fgQEj7)

There were 176 pediatric deaths attributed to narcotic use. And, the data shows a doubling of opioid poisonings in children during those years. Most of the victims (73.5%) are white, and slightly more than half (53 percent) are female.

The authors draw a parallel between guns and narcotics and the need for parents and grandparents to store these safely and out of reach or access to children and adolescents. 

Among the youngest children (1 to 4 yrs.) there were 1,531 children were poisoned. 

By contrast, children age 5 to 9 years had very few cases of poisonings. 

The doubling trend of opioid overdoses mostly affected young children and older adolescents.

Mitigating these risks will require comprehensive strategies that target opioid storage, packaging, and misuse.