(Health.com) -- Doctors are increasingly turning to Oxycontin and similar painkillers to treat arthritis and other conditions in older people, but the drugs may not be as safe as once thought. A new study suggests that elderly arthritis patients who take these drugs -- known as opioids -- are 4.5 times more likely to break their hip, pelvis, wrist, or upper arm than those taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen.
