The true number of Britons hooked on dangerously addictive painkillers has been revealed for the first time, with prescription opioids doled out to 5m people a year — or one in eight of the adult population.
The statistic, to be revealed by an inquiry this week, follows the biggest review yet into the scale of addiction in the UK, which was ordered by ministers amid fears of a US-style opioid crisis.
Its findings are “stark”, “serious” and “quite frankly alarming”, according to three sources familiar with the final report.
Public Health England (PHE), which conducted the inquiry, also discovered that 540,000 people have been on opioids for at least three years. The pills should only be prescribed for days or weeks. They are addictive and