http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25886212The number of Americans who died at home after ingesting toxic combinations of prescription medications, alcohol and street drugs such as marijuana exploded by more than 3,000 percent during the past two decades, new research shows.
The spike is a serious sign that many U.S. patients are having trouble coping with the shorter hospital stays, less clinical oversight and more powerful medications that have become hallmarks of medical care in recent years, said David P. Phillips, a sociologist at the University of California at San Diego.
“In the old days, you’d stay in the hospital three times as long,” said Phillips, whose team analyzed more than 50 million U.S. death certificates from 1983 to 2004.
