Experts say the abuse of prescription drugs is on the rise in Indiana – this after an IU Center for Health Policy report indicated in 2010 that 55 percent of Americans over the age of 12 who have used pain relievers were given them from a relative or friend. The report also says that more than one million Hoosiers over the age of 12 admitted to misusing prescription drugs at least once in their lives – a startling 21 percent.
According to Fairbanks Medical Director Dr. Tim Kelly, addiction treatment centers nationwide are also seeing upwards of a 500 percent increase in the number of reported motor vehicle accidents that have been linked to prescription drug abuse.
