GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The number of kids hospitalized because of opioids has nearly doubled since 2004, according to research published in Pediatrics Magazine.
It's no secret that there is an epidemic in the United States with opioid-related deaths. In West Michigan, doctors say there is an opioid-related overdose and death every three days.
Adults aren't the only victims. Doctors say that hundreds of kids have been hospitalized for opioids in the past few years. It's a problem that they say parents could be responsible for.
"We are definitely seeing more kids coming to the emergency room and more kids that are finding themselves into trouble," said Dr. Ken Fawcett with Spectrum Health's Internal Medicine and Pediatrics division. "No one is immune from this condition and it certainly crosses all socio-economic classes."
Dr. Fawcett says the number of kids hospitalized for opioid-related incidents in West Michigan is on the rise.
"It absolutely is an epidemic," he said.
He says it's largely for two reasons. The first: young children are accidentally taking the drugs.
"As adults if we’re leaving opioid-related medications around where kids can get into them accidentally. It doesn’t take much in order to create an overdose in that type of situation," he said.
The other reason: older kids are taking them experimentally.
"Increasingly we’re seeing young people decide to experiment with opioid-related or pain medicines that are found in our own homes, in our medicine cabinets," he said. "And that really is a clear and ever-present danger for people who have children who might be at that age."
For both of these reasons, Fawcett says prevention starts at home; being careful to lock up your medication and cautious of who you let into your home.
"We need to keep [opioids] locked up, we need to keep them out of sight and we need to do that irrespective of where we are in life’s journey," he said. "What we have in our medicine cabinets can be a real risk factor."
Something proactive that all parents can do right now is properly dispose of any old medications. Spectrum Health's Healthier Communities Program, which Dr. Fawcett works with, is participating in a national drug "Takeback Day" on April 28.
