Physicians at Johns Hopkins Children's Center are urging pediatricians across the country to specifically screen for prescription drugs during routine well visits.
"Ask teens explicitly about prescription drug use with concrete questions like "Have you ever taken a pain pill or other medication not prescribed for you?" said Dr. Melissa Long to a group of pediatricians.
According to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2.6 million teenagers in the United States reported in 2009 recreationally using a controlled substance for the first time. A 2010 study by the Drug Abuse Monitoring Network reported that the number of trips to the emergency room connected to
prescription drug abuse doubled between 2004 and 2008.
According to the experts at Johns Hopkins, more physicians in 2011 are
prescribing controlled substances than ten years ago. A study published last year in Pediatrics found that the number of prescriptions for teenagers almost doubled between 1994 and 2007. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration research finds that almost 70 percent of teenagers and adults that
abuse prescription drugs received their supply from someone they knew.
"It's important for pediatricians to ask parents what they have in their medicine cabinets at home and alert them that any controlled substances not stored and disposed of properly may inadvertently lead to misuse of these medications," said Dr. Long.
