Although teens and young adults who abuse prescription painkillers face a high risk of overdose, most don't know how to respond when one occurs, new research shows.
At issue is the increasingly popular, non-medicinal use of legal prescription narcotic pain medications, including so-called "opioids" such as Oxycontin and Vicodin.
Such drugs can substantially slow or even halt the ability to breath, sometimes leading to death. And while safe and effective interventions are available (including the prescription medication naloxone), the new study found that most narcotic abusers are unaware of their options.
[For more of this story, written by Alan Mozes, go to http://consumer.healthday.com/...-options-691640.html]
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