Aspirin Misuse

Guest: Craig Williams, a clinical professor and pharmacotherapy specialist at Oregon State University There is one medication that over half of older Americans take every day, even though many, many of those people should not be taking it, based on recommendations by the Food and Drug Administration. It's aspirin and over the years, Americans and their doctors have come to treat it more and more as a preventative pill -- almost like taking a vitamin -- to head off future heart attack or stroke. This widespread misunderstanding, and misuse, of aspirin in older Americans is documented in a recent article by Oregon State University pharmacology professor Craig Williams. It appears in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.