More than 13,000 CHILDREN poisoned by opioids since America’s prescription pill epidemic began, new figures reveal

November 1, 2016

America’s opioid addiction epidemic started to take hold in 1999
Studies have focused on adults overdosing, and children’s mental health
But new figures reveal the rate of children hospitalized for opioid drug poisonings more than doubled between 1997 and 2012

Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com

Published:
18:43 EDT, 31 October 2016

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Updated:
18:43 EDT, 31 October 2016

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More than 13,000 children have been poisoned by prescription drugs since the opioid epidemic took hold of America, new figures reveal.

Harrowing videos and images of overdosing adults have been headline news in the US this year.

And experts have been warning that a child with drug addicted parents is likely to suffer severe mental health issues.

But new figures collated by Yale School of Medicine reveal there has also been a surge in the number of children hospitalized for prescription opioid poisonings.

Children affected by epidemic: New figures reveal the rate of children hospitalized for opioid drug poisonings more than doubled between 1997 and 2012

The rate of under four-year-olds hospitalized for prescription pill poisoning increased 205 per cent between 1997 and 2012.

Among teenagers, opioid-related hospitalizations have gone up 176 per cent, and heroin overdoses have increased 161 per cent.

The researchers found increasing incidence of poisonings attributed to suicide or self-inflicted injury and accidental intent.

The data, published online on Monday by JAMA Pediatrics, offer the first concrete account of how many children and teenagers are treated for opioid poisonings, and how that rate has changed since the start of the epidemic.

Opioids are already among the most widely prescribed medications in the United States.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also recently approved the use of oxycodone hydrochloride for children who meet certain criteria.

Dr Julie Gaither, of the Yale School of Medicine, and coauthors analyzed pediatric hospital discharge records for every three years from 1997 through 2012.

They used diagnosis codes to identify 13,052 discharge records for children and adolescents hospitalized for opioid poisonings.

Harrowing images of overdosing adults have been headline news in the US (such as this image in East Liverpool, Ohio, where police found two adults passed out, and a four-year-old child in the back seat). Experts have been warning that a child with addicted parents is likely to suffer severe mental health issues. But new figures suggest the dangers could be far more extensive

They also identified opioid poisonings attributed to heroin for adolescents ages 15 to 19.

Across the study period, 176 children (1.3 per cent) died during hospitalization.

The victims are predominantly white (73.5 per cent).

Previously, opioid poisoning rates were much higher among females, but the study marked a shift between 1997 and 2012.

Males accounted for 47 per cent of victims in 2012, up from 35 per cent in 1997.

The study recorded 16 under-10-year-olds who tried to commit suicide or self-harm using prescription drugs.

That rate increased by 37 per cent among 10- to 14-year-olds (from 0.62 in 1997 to 0.85 in 2012 per 100,000 children).

Accidental poisonings among 10- to 14-year-olds became significantly more common, though still less common than deliberate doses (from 0.17 in 1997 to 0.31 in 2012 per 100,000 children).

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Deliberate poisonings among teens ages 15 to 19 increased by 140 per cent.

Accidental poisonings in that age group increased by 303 per cent.

The researchers concede that a fuller clinical picture of the hospitalized children would be needed to take detailed lessons from this data.

However, the study concludes: ‘Our research… suggests that poisonings by prescription and illicit opioids are likely to remain a persistent and growing problem in the young unless greater attention is directed toward the pediatric community, who make up nearly one-quarter of the U.S. population.

‘In addition, further resources should be directed toward addressing opioid misuse and abuse during adolescence.’