The number of Medicare patients taking prescription painkillers has jumped 30% since 2007, reports USA Today, which examined federal prescriptions from 2007 to 2012.
Reporter Peter Eisler says that use of hydrocodone and oxycodone—the most abused pain medications—rose 50% during this period.
The rise overlaps with the larger painkiller conversation in that USA Today‘s earlier reporting showed that around 336,000 seniors misused or became addicted to prescription pain relievers in 2012.
