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Seniors Aren't Immune to Opioid Epidemic

Opioids
K-State Research and Extension
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Opioids

As our society continues to struggle with the opioid epidemic, opioid abuse among those 50 and older has nearly doubled over the past decade, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

In 2016, doctors prescribed an opioid to one in three seniors on Medicareprescription drug plans. And, while Medicare funds opioid prescriptions in a straightforward manner, the way it covers opioid addiction treatment care and medicines can be tough to figure out.

 

Brenda Iliff is the executive director of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in Naples. She joins Gulf Coast Live along withClare Mannion,a retired Southwest Floridian who has dealt with opioid addiction firsthand.

Copyright 2018 WGCU

RachelIacovoneis a reporter and associate producer ofGulf Coast LiveforWGCU News. Rachel came toWGCU as an intern in 2016, during the presidential race. She went on to cover Florida Gulf Coast University students at President Donald Trump's inauguration on Capitol Hill and Southwest Floridians in attendance at the following day's Women's March on Washington.
Mike Kiniry is producer of Gulf Coast Live, and co-creator and host of the WGCU podcast Three Song Stories: Biography Through Music. He first joined the WGCU team in the summer of 2003 as an intern while studying Communication at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Julie Glenn is the host of Gulf Coast Live. She has been working in southwest Florida as a freelance writer since 2007, most recently as a regular columnist for the Naples Daily News. She began her broadcasting career in 1993 as a reporter/anchor/producer for a local CBS affiliate in Quincy, Illinois. After also working for the NBC affiliate, she decided to move to Parma, Italy where she earned her Master’s degree in communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Her undergraduate degree in Mass Communication is from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.