Opioids often preferable to NSAID's in the elderly

This is important.

The NYT reports that in light of findings that

[in elderly patients] The risks of Nsaids include ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding and, with some drugs, an increased risk of heart attacks or strokes. The drugs do not interact well with medicines for heart failure and other conditions, and may increase high blood pressure and affect kidney function, experts said.

The American Geriatrics Society

removed those everyday medicines, called Nsaids, for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, from the list of drugs recommended for frail elderly adults with persistent pain. The panel said the painkillers should be used “rarely” in that population, “with extreme caution” and only in “highly selected individuals.”
[....]
“We’ve come out a little strong at this point in time about the risks of Nsaids in older people,” said Dr. Bruce Ferrell, a professor of geriatrics at U.C.L.A. who is chairman of the panel. “We hate to throw the baby out with the bathwater — they do work for some people — but it is fairly high risk when these drugs are given in moderate to high doses, especially when given over time.

“It looks like patients would be safer on opioids than on high doses of Nsaids for long periods of time,” he continued

Link (My italics; I've interpolated the order of the paragraphs)

Editorial comment: I'm unhappy that the reporter chose to use this quote in emphasizing that opioids have their own dangers:

“We’re seeing huge increases nationwide of reports about the misuse and diversion of prescription drugs and related deaths,” said Dr. Roger Chou, a pain expert who was not involved in writing the guidelines for the elderly but directed the clinical guidelines program for the American Pain Society. “The concerns about opioids are very real.”

Diversion of opioids is a real problem. But it really annoys me to see it used as a counterpoint in discussions of their clinical usefulness.

I almost feel like these claims are saying something like: Advil might kill Grandma, but we might not want to give her a safer treatment because her grandson might steal it and kill himself.' (I don't think the reporter or Dr. Chou intended it this way --that's just how I take it)

Update: I was bothered by not knowing why the stuff about diversion annoys me so much. So I've posted some very rough thoughts here.