Health Highlights: Oct. 15, 2009

ByABC News
October 15, 2009, 5:23 PM

Oct. 16 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Health Expenses Increase for Middle-Age Americans

Between 1996 and 2006, total health-care expenses for middle-age Americans nearly doubled, according to a federal government study.

Total health-care expenses for adults ages 45 to 64 were $370 billion in 2006, compared with an inflation-adjusted amount of $187 billion in 1996, says the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The study included all middle-age adults, except those in nursing homes or other institutions.

Among the other findings:

  • The proportion of middle-age adults who incurred medical expenses remained at about 89 percent, but average annual health-care expenses for those with expenses increased from $3,849 in 1996 to $5,455 in 2006.

  • Prescription medicines accounted for 15 percent of total expenses in 1996 and 25 percent of total expenses in 2006.

  • The proportion of total expenses for hospital inpatient care decreased from 36 percent to 26 percent.

  • There was a significant increase in the average cost per health service: doctor office visits, $128 to $207; inpatient hospital day, $3,005 to $3,491; emergency room visit, $563 to $947; dental visit, $195 to $265; prescription medicines, $103 to $199.

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FDA Offers Medicine Disposal Advice

A Web page that advises consumers how to dispose of certain medicines has been introduced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Included on the page are instructions for getting rid of a number of powerful opioids that could be harmful or deadly if taken by someone other than the intended patient. The FDA says these drugs should be flushed down a sink or toilet, United Press International reported.

Any medicines not listed on the Web site should be mixed with an unpalatable substance, such as coffee grounds, and then thrown away in the household trash.