(WHDH) — United States hospitals are seeing a substantial rise in young patients needing critical care for opioid poisonings and overdoses.
A new study – published in Pediatrics – looked at 31 children’s hospitals and found that hospital stays for opiod treatment increased from 800 to 1,500 patients during the study.
Hospitalizations were most common among kids between the ages of 12 and 17, along with one to five year olds.
The youngest patients typically found their parents drugs and used them out of curiosity, according to the study.
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