In the past 20 years, the number of seniors being hospitalized for opioid overuse has increased fivefold. Of all the medications prescribed in the U.S., seniors receive one-third of them. They are, perhaps, our biggest users of opioids.
America, if you have an opioid problem, don't forget to recognize your seniors are a large part of it -- maybe the largest part. If we would be compassionate towards them, we should consider their plight.
I think of hospice, and of how it means comfort care instead of treatment to cure. That translates, in part, to pain medications. Can you say, Opioids?
So, when the pain sets in, of course a pain pill is offered. Now, do we suppose that seniors are somehow less susceptible to addiction? And, do we suppose it doesn't matter, for they are so old, anyway? Whereas when those younger receiving opioids, we might become concerned, when seniors are involved we are more likely to not give it a second thought.
I wonder if more overdose deaths among seniors go lost and unnoticed because we too quickly assume their deaths are due to from old age.
Whether they are on hospice or not, do we have a tendency to say, Don't bother them with treatments their bodies are no longer able to endure, for they are too frail for those, and are likely going to die anyway. Just give them some pain pills and let them die in peace.
From what I know about opioids, I'm not so sure this is the best route to peace. From what I know, they, the opioids themselves, come with hazards that prevent many seniors from ending their lives in peace. To me, the more humane solution, when you can, is to fix their problem with curative care so they don't have to end their lives strung out on drugs.
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