The Effect of Age on Opioid Prescribing

The day you turn 18, the world starts treating you differently. The thing that happens at age 18 is you're suddenly an adult. For these kids who are adolescents around that age being considered an adult and having a doctor lump you in as adults yields different treatment for you than when you're considered a child. And what that suggests is that this arbitrary distinction we make adult versus child at age 18 could be leading to unnecessary opioid prescriptions.