According to the latest 2014 report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), deaths from drug overdoses have reached all time high.
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Natural and semi synthetic opioids which include common pain relievers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone caused more deaths than any other opioid type in 2014. Before, the growing trend for overdose death was related to misuse and overuse of opioid.
Drug overdoses – particularly those from prescription opioid painkillers – has become a priority issue for the Atlanta-based CDC.
“Buck”, who is 23 and addicted to heroin, shoots up Suboxone, a maintenance drug for opioid dependence that is also highly addictive on February 6, 2014, in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
CDC Director Tom Frieden in the report pointed to an “alarming” surge in overdose deaths from 2013-a 14% increase was seen.
Given that the count represents a spike across all demographics-for adults in every age range, for both women and men, and for blacks and non-Hispanic whites alike-the report should certainly be viewed as worrisome. A map of drug overdose deaths by state (2013 and 2014) is available at http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html. Programs are also in place to increase the use of naloxone, a fast-acting antidote that may revive a person who has recently overdosed. The new report, however, suggested that heroin-related death had something to do with the drug’s accessibility.
The report used numbers from the National Vital Statistics System, an inter-governmental data hub that tracks public health, and found that 2014 saw more overdose deaths across the United States than any previous year on record. Many of these overdoses are believed to involve illicitly-made fentanyl, a short-acting opioid. Deaths attributable to these drugs rose by nine percent from 2013 to 2014. Most heroin usersinitially start by using prescription painkillers. Providing health care professionals with additional tools and information-including safer guidelines for prescribing these drugs-can help them make more informed prescribing decisions. “In addition, efforts are needed to protect persons already dependent on opioids from overdose and other harms”.
“One in 100 people will die in this state of an opioid overdose”.
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The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report revealed that between 2000 and 2014 a stunning 500,000 people have died as a result of drug overdoses, with substances like heroin and prescription drugs playing a big role.
