Opioids can derail the lives of older people too.

A recent study of Medicare recipients found that in 2011, about 15 percent were prescribed an opioid when they were discharged from the hospital; three months later, 42 percent were still taking the pain medicine. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that some, like Evard, end up addicted. Doctors have commonly managed the persistent pain of people over 65 with prescription opioids. But that has left some still in pain, and with a physical and emotional dependence that can ruin life.

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