CDC report: 12 million admit to nonmedical use of prescription painkillers

A report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in 2010, 12 million people who were at least 12 years old reported that they use prescription painkillers for nonmedical purposes.

The CDC report also found that painkiller overdose is more common among middle-age adults than in any other age group.

In 2009, CDC found that 15,000 people died from prescription-medication overdose in 2008, compared with 4,000 people in 1999.

The CDC suggests that state governments continue to implement a prescription-medication monitoring program, which is an electronic database that tracks prescriptions of painkiller medicines, so health-care providers can detect potential prescription-medication abuse more easily. The CDC also suggests that health-care providers set up methods to monitor the prescribing of painkillers more closely.