The Opioid Epidemic Is A Threat To Older People, Too

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August 29th, 2018

Many of the roughly 1,000 opioid overdose deaths in Georgia annually are of people under 50, but no one is too old to be killed by such drugs. In fact, older adults are among the major users of opioid drugs – because their doctors prescribe them.

Patrick Sison / Associated Press file

By Judi Kanne

A recent overdose case in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody involved a 55-year-old woman.

The cause of her death was determined to be the toxic effects of cocaine, morphine and methamphetamine, says Patrick L. Bailey, director of the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office. Of those three drugs, morphine is an opioid.

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